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What kind of foul hypocrisy from The American Atheists is this??

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What kind of foul hypocrisy from The American Atheists is this??

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American Atheists, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization. As such, all donations and gifts to American Atheists are tax-deductible to the full extent allowed by law. The Federal Tax Identification Number of American Atheists, Inc. is 74-2466507
https://www.atheists.org/about/finances/


How ironic that various atheist organizations vehemently protest and have actually filed suit against religious organizations having tax exempt status, all while being perfectly fine with filing tax exemption themselves.


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Chris OConnor

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Re: What kind of foul hypocrisy from The American Atheists is this??

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That does seem hypocritical. I'd of course like to hear their side of the story. Got any links to where American Atheists defends their tax exempt status?
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Re: What kind of foul hypocrisy from The American Atheists is this??

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I read their suit against the IRS.

Actually, I see how they'd differentiate the two

https://www.atheists.org/wp-content/upl ... -20-12.pdf
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Re: What kind of foul hypocrisy from The American Atheists is this??

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I don't know much about this subject so correct me here if I say something incorrect. All nonprofits don't have to pay taxes and that includes American Atheists and all churches. So far I am happy with that.

But aren't churches given latitude that other non profit organizations are not given in that their finances are not scrutinized by the IRS? How is it that televangelists are able to become ridiculously wealthy and own multiple mansions and private jets while still being simply a non profit organization?
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Re: What kind of foul hypocrisy from The American Atheists is this??

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I would personally never want churches to pay taxes. But I do want their finances to be scrutinized. They should not be able to hide how much the leader of the church takes from the donations that come in.
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Re: What kind of foul hypocrisy from The American Atheists is this??

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Chris OConnor wrote:I don't know much about this subject so correct me here if I say something incorrect. All nonprofits don't have to pay taxes and that includes American Atheists and all churches. So far I am happy with that.

But aren't churches given latitude that other non profit organizations are not given in that their finances are not scrutinized by the IRS? How is it that televangelists are able to become ridiculously wealthy and own multiple mansions and private jets while still being simply a non profit organization?
Tax-free status for churches, atheists, even Scientology, is okay by me. No one wants the government defining what is and isn't a religion. Mega-church preachers getting rich is fine by me. I don't have a problem with casinos or carnival barkers getting rich. Everyone knows that stuff is rigged. Casinos don't hide the odds. Any church members can look into what kind of house the preacher lives in, what car he drives, how many jets he has. They send him money anyway. They're buying hope, isn't that what casinos are selling? Pie-in-the-sky almost always turns a profit. Look at the Vatican's art collections. Priceless would be an understatement.

When business owners declare bankruptcy it's not personal bankruptcy. All the assets of the business are split among the creditors at pennies on the dollar. But the owner keeps all the money he made and everything he bought with it. That's why Trump's been able to declare bankruptcy 6 times and remain a billionaire. All perfectly legal.

What is illegal is for churches to take a political stance. Since preachers have sermonized politically forever, few realize this is illegal. Contributions to the ACLU are not tax deductible because it's a political organization; however, contributions to the ACLU Foundation are tax deductible. I had to look up the logic on that one.

Either churches should pay taxes or stay out of politics, that's what the law says. But they have their cake and eat it, too. That's what bugs me.
Last edited by Litwitlou on Wed Oct 17, 2018 6:21 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: What kind of foul hypocrisy from The American Atheists is this??

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Chris OConnor wrote:I don't know much about this subject so correct me here if I say something incorrect. All nonprofits don't have to pay taxes and that includes American Atheists and all churches. So far I am happy with that.

But aren't churches given latitude that other non profit organizations are not given in that their finances are not scrutinized by the IRS? How is it that televangelists are able to become ridiculously wealthy and own multiple mansions and private jets while still being simply a non profit organization?

The American Atheists were granted tax exemption status because the government defined their organization as a religion. The reasoning was that both Buddhism and Taoism do not have deities central to their beliefs but are still considered religions. Although The American Atheists objected to the court's rationale, they evidently do not mind it too much if it lead to tax exemption status for them. That seems a bit hypocritical to me.

I think churches are given more latitude than other non profits, making it easier for them to navigate IRS red tape. That's what seemed to be the AA's gripe all along.
Seems to me like a bunch of non believers concerned about what believers are getting away with when you and I know if they were truly intellectually honest about this they'd be just as concerned with how much mega corporations get away with as well, in our secular society. We're talking billions there.

I have always frowned on mega churches and their mega rich pastors. It's clearly a racket.

Having said all that, you know where I stand re atheism: when atheism becomes proselytizing, it's a religion.
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Re: What kind of foul hypocrisy from The American Atheists is this??

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Re: What kind of foul hypocrisy from The American Atheists is this??

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Litwitlou wrote:What is illegal is for churches to take a political stance. Since preachers have sermonized politically forever, few realize this is illegal.
Charities, Churches and Politics

The ban on political campaign activity by charities and churches was created by Congress more than a half century ago. The Internal Revenue Service administers the tax laws written by Congress and has enforcement authority over tax-exempt organizations. Here is some background information on the political campaign activity ban and the latest IRS enforcement statistics regarding its administration of this congressional ban.

In 1954, Congress approved an amendment by Sen. Lyndon Johnson to prohibit 501(c)(3) organizations, which includes charities and churches, from engaging in any political campaign activity. To the extent Congress has revisited the ban over the years, it has in fact strengthened the ban. The most recent change came in 1987 when Congress amended the language to clarify that the prohibition also applies to statements opposing candidates.


<Read more>

I'm guessing American Atheists also violates this rule or law. I can't fathom them NOT bashing conservative candidates and politicians. But what is good for the goose is good for the gander. Since churches do it why shouldn't atheist non-profits?
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Re: What kind of foul hypocrisy from The American Atheists is this??

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I'm guessing American Atheists also violates this rule or law. I can't fathom them NOT bashing conservative candidates and politicians. But what is good for the goose is good for the gander. Since churches do it why shouldn't atheist non-profits?
Then this becomes a tit-for-tat initiated by atheist organizations when all this time their primary claim was simply an absence of belief in deities.
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