Over the decades, we've been trained to think that the religious institution tax exemption is a matter of legislative grace. It isn't. And this idea isn't even original to America. The concept of tax exemption for houses of worship is ancientâ??—â??as in Mesopotamia, Babylon, and Old Testament ancient.
As for us, we are a nation founded upon a tax revolt and know that playing favor with tax exemptions and confiscations is the stuff of horrible histories. (See, generally, English Tudor monarchs.)
Progressives want to destroy, or at least control, religious influence. Tax pressure is their only viable option for doing so in the United States. I've heard it described as “hush money,” but it is not that. It is blackmail. Keep quiet or the government will tax you, perhaps to destruction.
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