Why Do Religious Groups Get Your Tax Money to Preach and Discriminate?

[doxydad]

It’s not new for federal and state governments to issue tax breaks and incentives to religious organizations. In fact, George W. Bush and his famous “faith based initiatives” program gave certain religious organizations tax breaks if they performed non-religious duties, followed employment laws, and offered a service not based on a recipient’s religious beliefs.

So, if your religious organization feeds the homeless, does not proselytize to those receiving its services and does not discriminate against employees who do not share the same religious beliefs as the organization, the government may give it a tax incentive for its services.

Unfortunately, this has not always worked out as planned, and neither the Bush nor the Obama administration has taken action regarding the many claims of proselytizing and employee discrimination. Organizations continue to take advantage of both federal and state incentives and often do so while holding those who receive their services and those who work with them to a religious test, or force them to sit through sermons of some kind before offering them the benefits.

One continued offender is Ken Ham’s Creation Museum, a museum that is run by Ham’s evangelical apologist organization Answers in Genesis.

In 2011, Kentucky awarded the museum $43 million in tax credits for an expansion project called the Ark Encounter, an amusement park focusing on the legend of Noah’s Ark. However, this $43 million tax break was not enough for the museum, which has yet to break ground on the new exhibit. It has now applied for an $18 million tax incentive from Kentucky Tourism Development Finance Authority.

According to the Louisville paper, the Courier-Journal:

Three years ago, the group won approval of incentives for its entire $172.5 million project, but because of funding problems it withdrew that application and is seeking approval for a $73 million first phase of the biblical theme park.

Now the museum claims it is ready to break if it can get the new $18 million incentive, the Courier Journal reports:

Ark Encounter is applying to participate in a program that allows eligible tourism attractions a rebate of 25 percent of the sales tax they collect on admission tickets, souvenirs, food and other things over ten years. For this application the rebates would be as much as $18.25 million.

http://www.alternet.org/how-religious-organizations-abuse-government-programs-and-duck-taxes?

[Faux pas]

1. Sheesh

that's all I've got.

[hfojvt]

3. perhaps because

a) they are investing $172 million
on
b) something that will generate perhaps $7,000,000 in sales taxes every year (meaning, what $87 million in sales?) That's a lot of revenue, and a lot of potential jobs.

They don't really GET any money. What they do is collect an extra $7,000,000 in sales taxes and they keep 1/4 of that, or $1,750,000. In this arrangement the state is still $5.25 million ahead every year.

Okay, let's say Kentucky plays hardball, says "we want ALL of the extra $7,000,000 in sales tax". Well, then the investment group can just take its $172 million across the river into Indiana (or Ohio, or Tennessee) which will give them some incentive and then Kentucky gets ZERO and Indiana gets the $7,000,000 and the $172 million (in construction contracts) and all the jobs too and all the extra tourism that this attraction might bring.

In the same way, Kansas City gave a verruckt amount of incentives to Schlitterbahn why should the state discriminate against a goofy religious water park?

[msongs]

4. not good to invest taxpayer money promoting superstition based religion scams nt

[nookworld]

5. i don't see this differently than any other theme park

if people do not care to attend, then they can decide not to.
freedom of choice

[LeftishBrit]

6. The question is not whether people should be allowed to have the theme park; it's whether the

taxpayer should be helping to pay for it.