Originally Posted By DyGDisney >>>Hey - it works for churches.<<< Not really --- a lot of churches struggle because not enough offering is given, especially in hard economic times. Can you imagine how much money we'd be willing to give the gov't? If you LIKE the president/congress (e.g., they are YOUR political party), you may give some....WHEN you can afford it, right?? What if you don't like the gov't in charge? It would be a fun expirament though! ;P
Originally Posted By DyGDisney DVC_dad, I'm confused. Is this clone you? Your son? A total stranger???
Originally Posted By DAR <<that their faith and science are one in the same>> See I'm one who believes that both faith and science can co-exist. And one shouldn't be looked down upon to prop up the other. <<And I have to disagree that this is just being mean and picking on the Mormons>> However, when the thread title says LDS cult, that's sort of just asking for a fight.
Originally Posted By Donny Gad said "When they start paying taxes, they can have a 'voice' in government." So Gad would you agree with me that Unions should not have a voice in government since they are under the same 501c Churches are ????
Originally Posted By Mr X ***I do have a problem with churches receiving taxpayer dollars - for charity or anything else*** If they sign up for taxpayer dollars in the capacity of a charitable organization they should be given the same consideration as any other charitable organization. ***We've already seen glaring examples of collusion in which specific churches were hand-picked by administration officials as 'payback' for support and votes.*** That's a different issue though. If there is corruption it should be dealt with, just the same as if it were any other charitable organization (certainly it's not JUST churches that are the beneficiaries of corruption?). I don't want to give them any SPECIAL rights. But equal rights to government support FOR charitable purposes is okay with me.
Originally Posted By gadzuux >> So Gad would you agree with me that Unions should not have a voice in government since they are under the same 501c Churches are ? << Unions are comprised of people working for a living. They are paying plenty of taxes. Conservatives like to villianize unions - so much so that "union" is now just a shorthand term for untrustworthy liberals. I don't get it - do you really want to line up against rank and file american labor? Whatever for?
Originally Posted By Dabob2 Also, there are MANY sections of 501(c) and they have impotant distinctions between them. Labor unions are 501(c) (5), which is NOT the same as churches. Thanks to one of my uncles, I get right-wing emails all the time that claim the old "unions and churches have the same tax status" lie. But it is a lie. One should never take these emails at face value without checking deeper, but obviously a lot of people do. "Internal Revenue Code - This is the law that imposes federal taxes on individuals, corporations and organizations. Although unions are generally tax exempt, they may incur a tax liability depending on how their political funds are handled."
Originally Posted By Mr X ***they may incur a tax liability depending on how their political funds are handled*** Which is precisely what should happen to churches, but never does.
Originally Posted By Donny UNIONS should also prevented from using my money on candidates I am not for.
Originally Posted By Mr X ***UNIONS should also prevented from using my money on candidates I am not for*** They are prevented from doing so. See post 168. Churches, however, get away with whatever they please.
Originally Posted By Donny Police Unions pic candidates all the time with out asking us if it's OK. Example <a href="http://www.azcentral.com/community/peoria/articles/2010/06/14/20100614peoria-police-union-backs-andrew-thomas.html" target="_blank">http://www.azcentral.com/commu...mas.html</a>
Originally Posted By Mr X Sure, and that's FINE as they are acting as a PAC. If a church wants to act accordingly and pay TAXES accordingly, they are welcome to do so. What part of that don't you get?
Originally Posted By Donny with out spending a dime Unions will put up signs,speak to members and give them buttons paid for by the candidate,have volunteer call centers all things churches are forbidden to do.What part don't you get.
Originally Posted By Dabob2 "170 Donny Thu 6/24/2010 4:47p UNIONS should also prevented from using my money on candidates I am not for." That's like saying your congressman should never vote foe anything you don't like. If you don't like the way he votes, vote him out. If you don't like who your union supports, vote for new leadership. Neither is always easy. But you sound like those tea partiers who, in Jon Stewart's memorable phrase confuse "tyranny" with "losing."
Originally Posted By Mr X ***with out spending a dime Unions will put up signs,speak to members and give them buttons paid for by the candidate,have volunteer call centers all things churches are forbidden to do*** Yeah, churches NEVER do stuff like that. <--rolls eyes Did you even pay a TINY bit of attention to what the Mormon church did in California?
Originally Posted By Pal of Minnie " I know its better in some areas (like SLC) but for the most part its rare to find non-mormons let alone anyone else who doesn't fit the white, hetero cookie cutter mold." Maybe you are not looking hard enough for non-mormons. Here are the UT stats: From OnlineUT.com: "According to the 2004 count, Utah is now 62.4 percent LDS. See: <The Salt Lake Tribune> Denominations of every kind are well established throughout the state." "Rare" to find someone that is not a Mormon in UT-no. It is more rare to find someone that is not white.
Originally Posted By Pal of Minnie This info is on a quick search-it will be interesting to find see what the 2010 stats are now.
Originally Posted By Pal of Minnie "Did you even pay a TINY bit of attention to what the Mormon church did in California?" Let alone what the other churches did. But that info never seems to come up much here-what a surprise.
Originally Posted By Dr Hans Reinhardt I visited Salt Lake City for the first time a few years ago and was surprised to find that it isn't nearly as Mormon as I thought it would be.
