Should the US Catholic Church be stripped of its tax-exempt status?

[durangodawood]

....Property taxes would be HUGE for churches if they were not tax-exempt. ...

I feel kind of dumb for not thinking of that.

 

[ViaCrucis]

They are not weaponizing. They are standing up for their beliefs. Church discipline is a valid scriptural activity of the church.

Church discipline is a valid thing, and denying access to the Table is part of that. I agree completely.

There's a difference between church discipline and weaponizing religion.

-CryptoLutheran

 

[NotreDame]

But of course -- The law allows it, and both parties support the law. Why shouldn't they?

But the law is conditional -- tax exempt organizations remain so only so long as they follow certain rules. Break the rules, lose your exemption.

Assume the Catholic Church passed a resolution denying communion to President Biden because his belief of prochoice is inconsistent with church doctrine and teaching. What “rule” or “rules” are breached by the Catholic Church?

Which, by the way, the Catholic Church hasn’t enacted such a prohibition.

 

[NotreDame]

What are your thoughts on this story?

Do you think these bishops are politically weaponizing the Eucharist?

Article excerpt: California Democrat suggests Catholic church should be stripped of tax-exempt status if it denies Biden communion:

A Democratic congressman from California has said that the Catholic church should have their tax-free status revoked if they decide President Joe Biden should not be able to take Communion.

The comment from Rep Jared Huffman comes after a recent US Conference of Catholic Bishops vote on 18 June to begin the process to deny Mr. Biden the ability to take Communion. 73% of US bishops voted for the motion, which was to share a full description of the sacrament of the Eucharist.

Mr. Huffman wrote on Twitter,
“If they’re going to politically weaponize religion by ‘rebuking’ Democrats who support women’s reproductive choice, then a ‘rebuke’ of their tax-exempt status may be in order.”

<<<end of excerpt>>>

For the record, the Vatican warned these US Bishops about denying Biden communion.

According to this Pew Research Poll, 67% of US Catholics think that Biden's abortion views should not disqualify him from communion. So, what are your thoughts on this issue? Please be civil.

I do not have any evidence the “Eucharist” has been “politically weaponized.”

A law targeting the Catholic Church and removing the tax exempt status of the Catholic Church would violate the Free Exercise Clause of Religion and is not a law that is neutral or of general applicability, as required by Employment Division v Smith and Church of the Lukumi Babalu Aye v. City of Hialeah. The state would then have to satisfy strict scrutiny to save its discriminatory law. Based on statistics, discriminatory laws toward religion lend legitimacy to the notion in the legal field that strict scrutiny is “strict in theory, fatal in fact.” Most if not all discriminatory laws against religion have not survived strict scrutiny.

 

[TLK Valentine]

Assume the Catholic Church passed a resolution denying communion to President Biden because his belief of prochoice is inconsistent with church doctrine and teaching. What “rule” or “rules” are breached by the Catholic Church?

Why, none... assuming the Catholic Church denied Communion to everyone with a prochoice belief, for the same reason...As long as we're talking consistency....

Which, by the way, the Catholic Church hasn’t enacted such a prohibition.

That's right, it hasn't -- there are merely a few rogue bishops who have gotten it into their heads that Communion is a reward to be awarded for jumping through the correct hoops set by themselves -- not an open invitation made by Christ to be welcomed into His Kingdom.

Such an error is an internal problem that the Church should -- but probably won't -- address soon.

 

[Fr. Appletree]

What are your thoughts on this story?

Do you think these bishops are politically weaponizing the Eucharist?

Article excerpt: California Democrat suggests Catholic church should be stripped of tax-exempt status if it denies Biden communion:

A Democratic congressman from California has said that the Catholic church should have their tax-free status revoked if they decide President Joe Biden should not be able to take Communion.

The comment from Rep Jared Huffman comes after a recent US Conference of Catholic Bishops vote on 18 June to begin the process to deny Mr. Biden the ability to take Communion. 73% of US bishops voted for the motion, which was to share a full description of the sacrament of the Eucharist.

Mr. Huffman wrote on Twitter,
“If they’re going to politically weaponize religion by ‘rebuking’ Democrats who support women’s reproductive choice, then a ‘rebuke’ of their tax-exempt status may be in order.”

<<<end of excerpt>>>

For the record, the Vatican warned these US Bishops about denying Biden communion.

According to this Pew Research Poll, 67% of US Catholics think that Biden's abortion views should not disqualify him from communion. So, what are your thoughts on this issue? Please be civil.

If they stripped the Church's religious exemption, the church would still fall under another tax exemption. Attempting to legally force the Church to pay taxes would ultimately effect thousands of nonprofits.

 

[rjs330]

Church discipline is a valid thing, and denying access to the Table is part of that. I agree completely.

There's a difference between church discipline and weaponizing religion.

-CryptoLutheran

I agree with the last statement. With this communion thing we can easily point out it is discipline for failing to follow church teachings and doctrine and not a weapon. Unless of course we can prove this church allows others to do the same thing and still get communion. If that is occurring then I would agree this is weaponizing their faith based on a political belief and not a doctrinal one.

 

[TLK Valentine]

I agree with the last statement. With this communion thing we can easily point out it is discipline for failing to follow church teachings and doctrine and not a weapon. Unless of course we can prove this church allows others to do the same thing and still get communion. If that is occurring then I would agree this is weaponizing their faith based on a political belief and not a doctrinal one.

Can other pro-choice Americans still receive Communion, or is Joe Biden being singled out?

 

[NotreDame]

That's right, it hasn't -- there are merely a few rogue bishops who have gotten it into their heads that Communion is a reward to be awarded for jumping through the correct hoops set by themselves -- not an open invitation made by Christ to be welcomed into His Kingdom.

Such an error is an internal problem that the Church should -- but probably won't -- address soon.

Why, none... assuming the Catholic Church denied Communion to everyone with a prochoice belief, for the same reason...As long as we're talking consistency....

And the rule they deny “everyone” originates where? This assumption there’s a consistency rule derives from what source?

 

[TLK Valentine]

And the rule they deny “everyone” originates where? This assumption there’s a consistency rule derives from what source?

I would say "logic," but then I remember that we're dealing with religion here... so Canon 915 will have to do.

If abortion is in fact murder, (which is a separate argument beyond the scope of this thread), then Biden's only involvement is to continue sanctioning it... as has every President since Roe v Wade was decided back in 1973.

Meanwhile, not the slightest effort is being made to identify and exclude the umpteen millions of people whose involvement in this allegedly abominable practice is so much greater... the doctors who perform them, the women who have had them, the voters who support Biden and his position on "murder"... if Biden is culpable for his role in these "murders," the murderers themselves are still welcomed to the Body of Christ with open arms and a wink... why?

Clearly, the Bishops' notion of "denying Communion because he has committed a grave sin without seeking the sacrament if reconciliation" does not stand up to scrutiny. Why then is President Biden being singled out?

Is it really for moral reasons, or political ones? Asking for a friend.

 

[Akita Suggagaki]

 

[TLK Valentine]

Cardinal Tobin and Bishop Rhoades discuss the Biden-Communion debate

Mr. Carr said he is “bitterly disappointed” in the president’s support for abortion rights, “but what’s different is he continues to be a part of our community. He attends Mass every Sunday.”

“We need not to discipline politicians but to engage our politicians and to pull them back in, so they see the richness of our tradition in its everyday forms,” he said.

Well said... If enough Bishops listen, perhaps the American church can get out of the business of influencing politics, and this discussion would never have been needed.

 

[TLK Valentine]

Yes, Jesus is the head of the whole Church.

In any diocese, it is the bishop who is the head.

The Catholic Church has hierarchical leaders, with attendant responsibilities. The state does not interfere with those powers, unless laws are broken.

...and those Bishops take their instructions from their own boss in the hierarchy of the Catholic Church -- if not Jesus, then at the very least, Pope Francis... who warned them against this nonsense.