The press to tax the church has begun.

What would your government do for 83 billion dollars?

  

In the movie Princess Bride, the Sicilian boss named Vizzini has an often repeated one-word line “Inconceivable”.  He keeps seeing things that he believes are beyond the realm of possibility.  He has a difficult time wrapping his mind around what is happening; it seems “Inconceivable”. 

When we talk about the church being taxed many of us, like Vizzini, are apt to say, “Inconceivable.”  Twenty years ago we might have considered it “Inconceivable”:

That the Empire State building would light up green to celebrate the end of the Muslim fast of Ramadan.

That the Supreme Court would legalize gay marriage in all 50 states.

That an Islamic gunman would kill four Marines in Chattanooga.

That a squirrel was "detained" when a woman called police to complain it was stalking her.

The likelihood of taxation of churches may not be a sure thing, but it has moved from the “inconceivable” to the “possible”.  I believe there are three key, interrelated, reasons why it is conceivable that churches will some day be taxed.

3) The ravenous appetite of government

Bonhoeffer states covetousness has an insatiable desire for more.  That is true, not just of individuals, but of governments as well.  The nature of government is to always grow larger and expand and that expansion requires money.  This is a bi-partisan appetite and currently the US debt is 104% of GDP and the US is acquiring interest at an astounding rate of $16,692 per second.   It is enlightening to visit a debt clock and watch the rate of spending by our government.  http://www.usadebtclock.com/ 

Stranger things than churches have at times been or are currently being taxed, including windows in Great Britain (not the software), playing cards (.10 cents per deck in Alabama), cow flatulence ($110 per cow per year for Danish farmers), the performance of visiting professional athletes (the Jordon tax enacted in California after the Bulls defeated the Lakers in the NBA finals), Russian bread tax, British wig powder tax, and a tax in Sweden for naming your baby a name not already in use.  In Canada, makers of children’s breakfast cereal are granted a tax exempt status if their cereals contain free toys. However, this exemption is limited to toys that are not “beer, liquor, or wine.”

Taxing churches seems a little less far fetched than some of these taxes, especially if it could produce meaningful income for the government.

2) Growing secularization

While it is hard to dispute that America was founded with and in a Christian worldview, it is also hard to dispute that the predominate worldview of most American’s is secular.  As a deist, Jefferson was far from orthodox in his faith; nevertheless, he valued highly the moral and ethical teachings of scripture, and appreciated the role of church in culture. 

Today, most people don’t care if the church shapes the ethics and the mores of our nation.  With declining commitment to Christianity in general and the local church in particular, the electorate could easily be convinced to support a tax on churches.   Most people do not have a deeply vested interest in keeping their church tax exempt because most folks do not identify as having a church home.  If the people of America were asked, “If taxing churches would reduce your personal property tax by ‘$X’, would you support taxing churches?”  My guess is that there would be a surprising support for this tax.

1) Loss of community vitality

Once upon a time the church provided almost all the social services now provided by the state.  Beyond the moral, ethical, and religious teaching of the church it was also the social safety net.  It was the source for feeding the hungry, caring for the indigent, providing health for the sick and dying.  In fact, the first international famine relief program in history didn’t happen at the government level, but in the church.  

Over the years the church has relinquished much of its ministry to the government.  The church is seen as, occasionally, providing supplemental aid to the real help of welfare, public housing and food stamps provided by the government.   What if every church in America had the selfless passion and energy that Mother Theresa expressed in India?  If the church were that engaged and involved in meeting the needs of the community then revoking her tax exemption would be ‘inconceivable’. 

The church has, in many cases, used the resources freed up by not doing community ministry to simply feather its own nest.  One advocate of taxing the church wrote:  “You just get a nicer building or a grander Christmas pageant. There's nothing wrong with that. When I was young I always enjoyed the Grace Church Christmas pageant. But this is just a kind of private entertainment (comparable to spending money on snacks for your book club—and indeed what are Bible study groups but the original book clubs?) that doesn't need an implicit subsidy.”

While it is far too early to say that taxing churches is inevitable, it is also far from inconceivable.  The church has allowed itself to be marginalized and seen as little more than a social club or private community.  In view of this it is not hard to see by some believe the time to tax the church has come.

Next week:  Where will the move to tax the churches come from?