Monday, January 25, 2010

SHRIEK! SHRIEK!!! SHRIEEEEEEEEEKKK!!!!!


Over at "Slap Upside the Head," Slap documents the appalling persecution of Canada's Christians:

The Kings Glory Fellowship, a Protestant church in Calgary, Alberta, has lost their tax exempt status because they spent too much time involved in political activities outside the church, including actively campaigning against gay rights.

Religious officials are pretty miffed, including Calgary’s Bishop Fred Henry, who said this incident was “clearly meant to muzzle religious leaders.”

The reality is, of course, much more mundane:

Tax exemptions, you see, are only available for charitable causes, not political ones. If a church wishes to actively affect policy for those that have nothing to do with its religion or beliefs, it becomes part of the public sphere and must contribute to it with income and property taxes. Once they do, they’re free to go outside of their congregations to lecture, publish, organize, put on charming foil hats, bang on pots and pans for effect, terrorize minority groups with neon signs, and do all the other things that wacky, anti-gay lobby and activist groups do. No leather jaw restraints required.

If a church doesn’t want to contribute to the public realm with taxes, then they can abide by their own decision and limit their political influence to inside their private congregations.

A better explanation would be hard to come by. Canadian churches have the luxury of being tax-exempt as long as they confine their activities to religion. Once they get heavily involved in politics, they lose their tax exemption. No one is trying to "muzzle" anyone. All that's happening is that, if a church decides it wants to be overtly political, it has no right to expect the Canadian taxpayer to subsidize it.

And now, we wait for the inevitable deluge of Blogging Tories screaming, howling and screeching about religious persecution. Wait for it ... you know it's coming.

Leave links below.

12 comments:

Dr.Dawg said...

Can't happen soon enough to the RCC.

Southern Quebec said...

I was reading the comments over at The National Toast. The commenters have absolutely no reading comprehension skills, WHATSOEVER!!!!! All of them, and of course SassieLassie, were screaming about freedom of speech being squashed by the AthiestCommiePinkos...at Revenue Canada. *sigh* Not.a.clue.

What are the odds on SUZY ALLCAPS going full metal on this?

deBeauxOs said...

I'm willing to bet that Dodo will mangle the facts beyond recognition in some screechy blogpost about the persecution of christians.

But wait! Dodo hates people who are homophobic, doesn't she? It's right up there on her blog's banner. Should be interesting to see how Dodo can doublethink her way through this.

But then, double-think is a well-developed "skill" for ReformaTories.

Backseat Blogger said...

some blogging tories will understand the issues, won't they?
i bloggied about the stupidity but i'm not a blogging tory.

@SouthernQuebec.. tnx for reminding me to read the Post's comments on the article. i can hardly wait ;)

Mike said...

This sums it up well: Keep Your Jesus Off My Penis.

PeBo said...

I couldn't get passed "muzzle religious leaders" (what an amazingly wonderful concept!). It's hard to say "God Hates Fags" when you're mouth is full.

David Webb said...

"I couldn't get passed "muzzle religious leaders"

normal voice
You do realise that Slap is not writing in support of the church, right? Because the rest of the piece is well done and quoted in CC's post.

If I misread your words, I apologise for my lack of perspicacity.
/normal voice

Twatsy voice
LOL! Oh. My. God. It's evident that your lack of reading comprehension is once again your downfall!. As usual, I win, you lose. Triangles, deficits, Liberal fascism. LOL!
/Twatsy voice

Ti-Guy said...

i bloggied about the stupidity but i'm not a blogging tory.

What? Again? Last time I checked your blog 2.0, you were flying the Blogging Tory banner.

sooey said...

Ooh. A precedent. Excellent.

liberal supporter said...

This particular church erred, because it did not make an arrangement with a US based similar church. Usually they make such a deal. Then their congregations are whipped to donate $1100 each to the CPC, and the US "friend" makes up what would have otherwise been the donations to the church. So the CPC gets lots of donations to further the so-con cause, the church is revenue neutral, and the US friend can use the church workers as volunteers to help with the logistics of spreading its message. They can't lose charitable status if their membership does things "on their own", only if the church itself foots the bill. If the Mormons could put up 25 million in the California SSM vote, they can do the same here, using this congregational in and out scheme.

Hmmm, doesn't the CPC have about $25 million in its war chest?

Anonymous said...

I love the idea of paying taxes so that a church can be subsidized to spew gay hate...

Holly Stick said...

You might want to read Bene Diction if you want some actual facts about the matter, as opposed to wild speculation:
http://www.benedictionblogson.com/2010/01/25/calgary-church-loses-charitable-status-kings-glory-fellowship/