Академический Документы
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Project
Nicholas Alcalde
Introduction:
Methods:
The data and information I used for this paper came from 3 different
sources
Peer-Reviewed Article- I got a very in depth historical outline of this issue
from a scholarly article written by James E Wood. Not only did it give
information about the foundation of this issue and ways its been dealt with
in the past, it also gave very useful insight on the recent developments with
this issue and what effects some possible solutions would have.
CNN Article- Another source I pulled information from was an article from
CNN.com titled Megachurches Mean Big Business. This was the article that
led me to choose this topic and gave the most revealing and unsettling
information about some of the largest and most profitable churches in the
country. In this paper I will address the issues with these churches and why
they call for a look into outdated laws.
Website- The final and probably most helpful source I got information from
was a website called procon.org that laid out all the arguments both for and
against church taxation. It is clearly an unbiased site as it attacks and
defends both sides on just about every concern that has been brought up on
the subject.
the right to these exemptions, but secular charities are forced to report
income to the IRS before receiving tax exemption while churches are
automatically granted exemption without having to file a tax return. As Mark
Twain argued no church property is taxed and so the infidel and the atheist
and the man without religion are taxed to make up the deficit in the public
income thus caused."
Megachurches
As stated above, some churches are quite small and are barely
bringing in enough money to stay standing. And then there are
Possible Solution
I can understand why both sides make such arguments for their
stance, but it is still clear that this law cannot continue to stand as it does
today. If nothing changes then megachurches will continue to profit off the
unworthy exemptions that were mainly intended for small and struggling
churches that arent clearly trying to make a profit. Thats why I think a
plausible solution would be to only tax select churches. If state and federal
government were only to tax churches with incomes in the top 10 percent it
would not only discourage exploitation but also bring in some much needed
funding that could perhaps be redistributed to the smaller and more needy
churches, among other things.
Conclusion
Even though this is probably not an issue with most churches, the
current exemptions that all churches are receiving need to be reexamined. It
is clear that larger churches are exploiting and reaping the profits of such
outdated provisions while using smaller churches as reason to justify their
actions. If this privilege isnt removed from those that do not deserve it then
they will continue to maximize their profits and bask in their undeserved
special treatment.
Annotated Bibliography
"Mega Churches Mean Big Business." CNN.com. N.p., 21 Jan. 2010. Web. 19
Mar. 2015.