re: Amendment 2 on church exemptions

Keep the government out of our churches.

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But the churches that abuse the nonprofit status as a tax vehicle for wealth to purchase multimillion dollar homes as a patronage for their pastor to live in that are property tax free are the ones that need to be taxed.

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And if that is occurring I would tend to agree. I assure you that isn't us. My Church's parsonage is one street behind me and I can tell you, it's not lavish. Just a few weels ago , our Church hosted a Rise up Against Hunger. All of the Church, Sunday School classes meet in the gym to package up bags (one meal) of rice, beans, stuff (I don't remember). We packaged over 20,000 meals and will end up God knows where (seriously). Church pays for the contents and the people volunteer their time. We did for free (essentially) what the government would spends thousands doing. Feeding the third world is not the US government's responsibility. It's the responsibility of the people that are more fortunate. But, as someone mentioned, feed a man a fish and feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish, and feed him for a lifetime.

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Some of this depends on the church, yes some churches are true nonprofits and operate great charities and are great stewards of money.

But the churches that abuse the nonprofit status as a tax vehicle for wealth to purchase multimillion dollar homes as a patronage for their pastor to live in that are property tax free are the ones that need to be taxed.

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This argument reminds me of proposed gun laws honestly. Do we all want people to not die from gun violence, of course. Is it nauseating seeing people pervert the gospel of Christ for personal gain, absolutely. The problem in reality though always goes back to the same thing, once you open the door for government to get their hands on something they....

1) Never give that power back
2) Always seem to expand and overreach from the original premise of how they got said power in the first place.

How many times have we heard "it's just a temporary tax" or "It's just to stop terrorism" or any other power grab line the government spouts out there? It's a pandora's box we don't want opened. What's to say they won't decide at some point to change the definition of what "high value" churches are? What's to say they won't use tax breaks to influence preaching? I do not want the government getting its hands on already taxed donations.

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Hookers & escorts require "donations" before you meet, and are illegal, even if you call it a "gift".

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Paying for a blowjob and calling it a gift to avoid solicitation charges and tithes to a non profit are not remotely the same thing.

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To your larger point about feeding chronic waste/fraud/abuse, all we can ask for is smaller government, but even if it is achieved, greed & corrption will still exist. But even a small government needs funding: tariffs, corporate & comsumption taxes. I am totally against individual income taxes, as Thomas Jefferson wrote in Article 1, but not corporate taxes. Churches are businesses, imo, despite their status/claim otherwise.

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Don't pretend to be a small government conservative. You're legitimately advocating for additional tax dollars to go to a government that is as wasteful and fraudulent as can be. How about instead of taxing churches on already taxed donations, you shrink government so they can live within their means just like everyone else?


The truth is, you equate pastors and hookers because you don't like the church/organized religion and want them fiscally punished. Don't pretend to be a small gov't conservative, you're not.

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From what I’m understanding this amendment will cause churches to not be tax exempt. So that means taxes on offerings given and property taxes? Can someone explain this to me if I’m reading that wrong.

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That's straight up wrong.

Here is the bill LINK

The amendment does two things.
1. Moves a lot of property tax exemptions to statute with a 2/3rds protection. That is, the legislature would need a 2/3's vote to modify or eliminate the exemption. The current religious exemption would get moved to statute. Here that current exemption language (page 87):

'Property owned by a nonprofit corporation or association organized and operated exclusively for religious, dedicated places of burial, charitable, health, welfare, fraternal, or educational purposes, no part of the net earnings of which inure to the benefit of any private shareholder or member thereof and that is declared to be exempt from federal or state income tax'

2. Separately language is being put directly into constitution (so it would take constitutional amendment to remove - p.81):

'Property owned by a nonprofit operated exclusively for religious
purposes as a house of worship, residential housing for clergy, priests, or nuns, or a seminary or other educational institution training individuals for religious ministry shall be exempt from ad valorem tax pursuant to this Section.'

You will notice this language is a little narrower. Churches, religious housing and religious training would still be protected. Apartments owned by churches used as a profit center would (probably) not be protected in the language in #2, but would still be protected by language in #1.

So churches (and related religious activity) would still have constitutional protection. Ancillary activities of religious organizations would have protection in law and need a 2/3rds vote to eliminate.

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Churches in Louisiana ar

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New*

Most Catholic churches have been paid off for decades.

We don’t need 35 churches in a town with population of 5,000 people in the first place

Any church worth it's salt shouldn't be 501c anyway.