[Bobboau]

OK, so the problem is that we are either spending too much money or we are not collecting enough taxes. now given that this is the government we are talking about clearly it cannot possibly be spending enough money, so the only other option is to collect more taxes. but as things are now, we are already sending a huge chunk of money off and not getting much back for it, but then i realized something, something that changed my perspective on the situation immediately, all we have to do is find a segment of the population that can afford to pay the additional taxes with out it affecting them, and there is one such group, no it's not the rich, it's the religions, you see all religious organizations are tax exempt, but, all (or most at least) claim to be th earthly representatives of some sort of all powerful all knowing super being that wants them to succeed. now if that is the case, then this entity would not allow it's representatives to fail, no matter what the situation this thing would ensure that they had the means to overcome any and all hardships. so that means we have been doing this **** totally wrong! rather than making them tax exempt we should be taxing the **** out of religions, make em pay 2, 3, 10 times as much as everyone else, no matter how much they get taxed their god(s) will make sure they can pay it and have enough left over to build that new mega-church or theme park. we could fund health care, feed an infinitely exponentially growing population, build orbital elevators, teraform Mars and spread throughout the cosmos and never have to worry about funding a gain, just leave it up to that god. as an added bonus we will finally be able to figure out which religion was the correct one, as all of the false religions will not have an actual god looking out for them and will utterly collapse, fortunately that will only happen to the ones that are based on complete bull****.

[MP-Ryan]

Who did you just have a conversation about religion with? =)

[Commander Zane]

Fund it!

[Mongoose]

Who did you just have a conversation about religion with? =)

Something alcoholic, no doubt.

[Bobboau]

nope on both counts.

middle of the night, not talking to anyone.
don't drink.

[Scourge of Ages]

Bobboau, I agree with your idea completely. And I am religious, but the thing you said is very true.

[Bobboau]

excellent! I don't get why no one has thought of this before, it's so simple!

[Mars]

(full scale revolution?) 

[Bobboau]

"Fund it!"

with religious tax dollars!

[Nuke]

tax the crap out of the bible thumpers for all i care. especially the big money types, the ones that need multi million dollar churches and missionary programs that try to convert the muslims, hindus and buddhists of the world into raging asshats. they obviously dont know how to use that money for the good of the people so they might as well level out the national debt.

[achtung]

While your post is hilariously extreme, I do think that there should not be a rule that exempts religious organizations from taxes.

Jesus agrees with me, you know:

Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's." -Jesus Christ, in Mark 12:13-17; also Matthew 22:15-22 and Luke 20:20-26.

[FireSpawn]

Bring the hammer down on Scientology, that "religion" is 90% based on seperating people from their money and property (the other 10% is being dicks to its poorer followers). They say they are a legitimate religion, let their intergalactic warlord help fund them with his space credits out of his own subspace pockets.

[NeoKnight]

Bobboau, if I understand you correctly, what you're suggesting essentially amounts to discrimination (dubbed "persecution" by many religious) through the medium of taxation. And not a single religion in history has been divinely protected from persecution. The Jews got it (the holocaust), the Catholics got it (under the reign of Nero), the Muslims got it (through the crusades), and I think just about everyone else got it at one point or another. None of these groups were the beneficiaries of any supernatural intervention that saved them from the pit of destruction. Given this track record, I don't think such a miracle is going to happen now. More likely your plan would just tax religion into ruin. The various denominations would still survive (no amount of tax can kill a thought or ideal), but they'd be deprived of the means to bring any benefit to society. Because let's be fair; many churches are active in humanitarian work around the world. I think the ultimate outcome of your tax policy would be the amputation of the humanitarian function, leaving a web of scattered faithful who are reduced to holding worship services on their own private property. That's not the kind of world I want to live in.

[Aardwolf]

Are you kidding, that would be awesome!

:trollface:

[Bobboau]

not a single religion in history has been divinely protected from persecution.

funny how that works out isn't it?

your plan would just tax religion into ruin.

oh no, we wouldn't want that would we. 

they'd be deprived of the means to bring any benefit to society.

it'd be such a completely different world.

That's not the kind of world I want to live in.

meh, different strokes for different folks.

[karajorma]

While I'm not saying that they should be taxed into oblivion, I can't see any good reason why they shouldn't be taxed just like any other business.

[Mr. Vega]

Just go back to highly progressive taxes. Most of the gains of the past three decades have been in the top 5% so that's where the revenue lies, and a more equal distribution of wealth will increase consumer spending power, bringing employment and incomes up to meet demand and boosting revenues further. It's not rocket science.

we will finally be able to figure out which religion was the correct one, as all of the false religions will not have an actual god looking out for them and will utterly collapse, fortunately that will only happen to the ones that are based on complete bull****.

I can think of a few things that might go wrong with this plan.

[Black Wolf]

Religions should be taxed, no doubt about it in my mind, but there does have to be some method by which good works should be exempt from it. The solution, to me, seems simple. Split the religion up. Force, for example, the catholic church, to found "The Catholic Australian Charity", a separate body that is governed by the strict rules that cover charities, with the religion as its primary source of funds. The church is then taxed like any other business, with its donations to its own charity (a separate institution at this point, remember) tax exempt. So the money they send to the vatican to buy expensive works of art and fund swiss guards and whatnot will be taxed, while the money they use to fund actual good works would be tax free. Simple.

[NeoKnight]

not a single religion in history has been divinely protected from persecution.

funny how that works out isn't it?

Indeed. What's more funny is that most of those religions are still here.

While I'm not saying that they should be taxed into oblivion, I can't see any good reason why they shouldn't be taxed just like any other business.

AFAIK most religions are funded by donations from their respective followers, and I have yet to see a business run entirely on donations. I do see how a business model could be applied to a church though, in the respect that money is given for services rendered (literally). To be honest I have mixed opinions about the policy of religious taxation, but my gut reaction is to side against it. I'll have to think about it some more though.

[Ravenholme]

excellent! I don't get why no one has thought of this before, it's so simple!

I'm pretty sure it has, it always falls through for some reason though.

Religious organisations being tax exempt has always struck me as ridiculous, but I don't think it'd bring in as much as you think it would.