Here is a thought: how about remove any “tax exempt status” and let people and organizations decide for themselves what they want. This is all about the $$$ when you let IRS dictate what you believe in.
I agree with getting rid of the income tax, and your point is one reason for doing away with it.
One point: church offering plate money is not taxed because it is protected by the first amendment. What this bill by Lee does is protect the individual tax filer's charitable deduction from his own income.
It's not just about $$$, it's about survival of some religious groups and the performance of their mission. Think of the Catholic hospitals that refuse to perform abortions. They'll have to close.
They're trying to force citizens into one religion, the Religion of Liberalism.
It is not their tax status that grants them freedom of religion. It is the first amendment.
In those states where the government is willing to grant marriage licenses to gays, the government free to have a justice of the peace perform the ceremony. But the churches are free to decline to perform a ceremony if it does not in accordance with their beliefs.
I cannot demand to have a marriage ceremony performed at a church no more than I can go to the local VFW and insist that the bartender marry us.
There has never been any law requiring any church to file for 501(c)(3) status. When they do so, they do so voluntarily. Yes, it IS a money issue. To the IRS it is a CONTROL issue.