The second and sixth US presidents, John Adams and John Quncy Adams, belonged to the Unitarian church.
But that's not enough for the State of Texas. Comptroller Carole Keeton Strayhorn ruled this week to take away the tax exempt status of the Unitarian church, because the church "does not have one system of belief." See this Knight Ridder story for more detail.
Why stop with the Unitarians? Hindus and Buddhists surely don't meet the standard either. In fact, Jewish theology has far to much room for variance in important areas such as the precise nature of the afterlife. Time to tax synagogues and temples.
The failed attempt to finance schools with "sin taxes" on cigarettes, strip clubs, and lottery machines was clearly a step in the wrong direction.
Clearly, we need to finance Texas education with taxes on religious organizations with insufficiently rigorous theology. Not to mention atheists, who should register to pay extra taxes.
Or maybe reread the First Amendment to the Constitution.
Posted by alevin at May 20, 2004 11:53 PM | TrackBackhttp://www.thevictoriaadvocate.com/local/local/story/1944373p-2252261c.html
The Victoria Advocate, Tuesday, May 25th, 2004:
Strayhorn reverses herself on church's tax status
Reversing an earlier decision, state Comptroller Carole Keeton Strayhorn said Monday that a Unitarian church in Denison on the Texas-Oklahoma border will get tax-exempt status. ...
Posted by: Raven on May 25, 2004 10:47 PM'Ancira says a criterion used in determining whether a group qualifies as a church is "simply a belief in God or gods, or a higher power."'
Does it count if I acknowledge that Carole Keeton McClellan Rylander Strayhorn is herself a Higher Power?
Posted by: Prentiss Riddle on May 26, 2004 11:24 AM