501 (c) (3)

As I've been researching this and looking into paperwork and various tax-exempt options for our AR organization, I've been struggling with a growing sense of something wrong. I've finally put my finger on it. It is very clear that these organizations are not to be politically focused, which is where we are struggling. Specifically: "Organizations with this classification are prohibited from conducting political campaign activities to influence elections to public office". While at one time this may have been the case with churches, this is no longer the way that many of them operate. Having grown up in a fundamental church, I can say for a fact that in that church, the "minister" was very outspoken, not only on what we should and shouldn't watch on TV, think, feel, but on how we should vote as well.

I have seen a dramatic increase in my adult lifetime of political organization and activity within the churches/denominations. Fortunately for them, right in the upswing of their very organized campaign to create a theocracy here in the U.S., the right-wing very unfundamentalist politicians found themselves desperately in need of the religious-right demographic. What happened next will take the next 100 years to recover from, if recovery is even possible after all the damage that has been done courtesy of the marriage from hell between Bush and the fundies. What is almost sad is that the fundies were just a tool in the Bush admin's arsenal. Not only does he and all of his ilk find the fundies largely worthless and laughable, but many of the fundie leaders themselves obviously find their followers the same, as evidenced by the rampant fraud and manipulation utilized by these leaders themselves against their own followers.

The relationship between these two groups with very different aims and motivations did find common ground in that they both felt it beneficial to dispense with civil liberties, which are tremendously inconvenient for both those who need to keep the majority poor, unempowered, and silent. I think it's safe to say that the Republican leaders and many of the fundie leaders were/are both in pursuit of money and power. Period. Their followers, however, blindly and unquestionably follow their leaders--who seemingly studied the rhetoric and manipulation used by one of the great, twisted minds in history--Hitler. These followers, like those in Germany, have become awash with promises of returning our great nation to it's rightful, god-given place on top of the world and all the people in it. The people that were/are least respected by these "great" leaders, swept away with patriotistm, nationalism, and theism, were convinced that these leaders had their interests at heart and became unwitting dupes in the game.

It is hard, though, to feel much pity for very long, when considering the fact that the "innocent dupes" were able to be preyed upon because of the inherent belief that THEIR worldview is the only one that should be considered. Their religious view is the only correct one, and thus, all others are evil and should be banished from the country. The fact that they wanted to carve out a fundie-ruled world where everybody else is forced to play by their rules. In a completely non-theocratic government, nobody is excluded. No religious groups are discriminated or favored, which leaves all of them free to live their lives as they dictate (or their "god" dictates) as long as they aren't harming others. This also means that those of us who do not need magical fairies for strength, and the threat of hell and promise of heaven to live moral, productive lives, are free to pursue our lives without discrimination or forced theology in our chosen activities and pursuits.

Since an analysis of statistics of churches reveals that the majority of them are using their wealth to create empires, millionaire ministers, and feed the political machine, they should have their tax-exempt status revoked. I'm relieved to find that I am far from alone in my conclusions, and I think (and hope) that we will see a change in tide after the next election. A movement is building and will soon be ready to fight this battle. The important point to remember here is, that, this is an issue that probably wouldn't even have raised notice, had the churches kept their religion where it belongs--strictly between them and their god. In attempting to force it on others, they aroused the attention and ire of folks who would have contentedly ignored their existence. In merging with the political right to strip civil liberties, they have put themselves in a situation where it will be much easier for them to lose the rights they now take for granted and so cavalierly have tried to take away from others. If churches would indeed like to actually become charitable organizations again, rather than empires, they would still have the ability to create a sub group with strictly charitable activities, thus allowing for tax-exempt donations that would actually be used to help those in the community.

If I remember correctly, Jesus himself did not feel that church buildings were a good thing. Jesus himself was against collecting wealth, and trying to strong-arm others into following a christian path. I'm pretty sure he would approve. Maybe recognizing churches for what they really are and assigning them the correct legal status would help this country make some progress in recouping our billions of dollars in losses on the war of terror that the Republicans and the religious right have saddled the rest of us with. It would be one tiny step in the direction of fairness and sanity.