Churches Should Pay Property Taxes

Currently, churches are exempt from property taxation, which I feel is unconstitutional. We all know about the “wall of separation” between government and religion granted by the U.S. Constitution. It clearly states citizens are not taxed for the support of any religious institution and no church has any claim on any of the public revenues. Tax-exemption has the same financial effect as government grants. That is, without the exemption, the church would pay a certain amount of property tax, and each citizen would pay less tax (to maintain the same level of government). My reality is that I pay more taxes because the churches pay none.

Are they exempt because the government finds their efforts noble? Are their efforts directly equitable to their aggrandized property? If I were a noble person, would the property taxes on my house suddenly be exempted? My perception of churches is that they primarily promote hypocrisy. That is, they claim to promote a particular moralistic viewpoint, but its leaders are constantly in the news because of abominable acts that are in direct violation of those viewpoint. Drug use, embezzlement, prostitution, child molestation...not a day goes by that some religious leader is not in the news because of some heinous act. To grant tax exemption based on the fact that they promote moralistic behavior is insulting to the reasonable thinker.

Are they tax-exempt because they are a non-profit organization? Pshaw, compare the property value of churches to that of a barber shop or gas station. Church property values average in the millions and many churches are valued in the HUNDREDS of millions of dollars. There is most certainly profit being had.

Additionally, many churches host private schooling. To not tax this is surely a case of our government promoting religion. It may be fair to say that ALL religious schools receive this tax exemption, but SECULAR private schools do not. That indeed does promote religion over non-religion. This is in direct violation of the First Amendment. It promotes religion because due to taxation, it is more expensive to operate a secular private school.

It is one thing for government leaders to comment on religion saying "I like it, it is good." But it is quite another thing to say "I like it, and will give it preferred financial standing enforced by law."

Rebuttal from Rob Wingett

I disagree with you in principle. I think perhaps churches should be taxed, but not for the reasons you outline.

You claim that the tax exempt status of the churches is "undeniably unconstitutional", but you fail to give us any reason why you think this is so. It has long been the case that churches, non-profit organizations, and charities can apply for tax exempt status from the government. As long as people are not taxed to support a religion, or church, and the churches receive no public revenues, then I see no reason, in principle, why their tax exempt status is unconstitutional. The wall of separation works both ways. In addition to keeping the churches out of the government, it was also intended to keep the government out of the churches. The churches have no business enacting legislation, or imposing a tax on the general populace to support their general upkeep. Conversely, the civil state has no business interfering in matters of theology, or in the general operation of a church. In principle, even though I am an atheist, I see no great reason to oppose this arrangement.

The problem comes when one party leaves the confines of their appropriate sphere to the great detriment of the other. Which is precisely what we have in practice at the current time. The churches, instead of remaining neutral on the issue of politics, have breached that wall of separation and have actively involved themselves in the political process to a greater and greater degree in recent decades. The Republican Party is now a de facto Christian Party for all intents and purposes. And many churches campaign vigorously on their behalf. The churches have abrogated the basic agreement underlying the separation of church and state, and consequently deserve to have their tax exempt status revoked.

So while I support taxing churches, it is for reasons other that the ones you have given.

Relevant Quotes:

“I would like to call your attention to … an evil that, if allowed to continue, will probably lead to great trouble … it is the accumulation of vast amounts of untaxed church property.”

-Ulysses S. Grant, U.S. President

“The divorce between church and state should be absolute. It ought to be so absolute that no church property anywhere, in any state, or in the nation, should be exempt from equal taxation; for if you exempt the property of any church organization, to that extent you impose a tax upon the whole community.”

-James Garfield, U.S. President

“If the factory pays taxes, and the church does not, it follows that the church will some day own the factory.”

-Lemuel K Washburn, from the book “Is the Bible Worth Reading?”