"Atheist Demands are Unconstitutional", or "An Idiot's Rant."

[Rob H.]

3. Good grief

If the atheists and secular civil rights groups are upset about some insignificant amount of taxes that go to Christian icons, then I must speak to the amount of my tax dollars that go to support “so-called art” that defiles my Christian beliefs, such as suspending a cross or crucifix in a jar of urine.

If Ms. Preston really cares about how her tax dollars are spent, she should Google "parsonage exemption," an unconstitutional tax deduction that costs American taxpayers possibly as much as $71 billion each and every year, versus the National Endowment for the Arts' request of $146.255 million for fiscal year 2012. (Why, the NEA's request is a scandalous 2.1 percent of what the parsonage exemption costs! Quickly, make way to the fainting couch!)

Study challenges tax exemption for religious organizations
By Kimberly Winston, Religion News Service

...snip...

(Ryan) Cragun (an assistant professor of sociology at the University of Tampa) and his co-authors — Stephanie Yeager and Desmond Vega — examined federal tax exemption laws, and some state and local laws, specifically in their home state of Florida. They conclude:

• States bypass an estimated $26.2 billion per year by not requiring religious institutions to pay property taxes.

• Capital gains tax exemptions for religious institutions may be as much as $41 million a year.

• U.S. clergy may claim as much as $1.2 billion in tax exemptions annually via the parsonage allowance.

But Cragun, who specializes in the sociological study of religion, said the article is not a call to completely revoke the tax-exempt status of religious organizations. Rather, he would suggest tax exemptions only for nonprofit organizations — religious or secular — whose services the government would have to supply if those organizations disappeared.

Damn those atheists for wanting everyone to play by the same rules!!11!!!1!