Senators, tax exemption is a privilege, not a right. According to latimes.

com,

Governments have traditionally granted this privilege to churches because of the

positive contribution they are presumed to make to the community, but there is no

such provision in the United States Constitution.

Senators, for the following reasons I give you today I urge you to vote in

negation/affirmation of Senator _________________’s legislation for the

following two reasons: one, “parsonage exemption” on ministers’ homes makes

pastors even richer, and two, it restricts progressive social elements.

Firstly, Senators, “parsonage exemption” on ministers’ homes makes pastors even

richer. According to Warren Bird, a researcher who researches cutting-edge

churches, stated in one of his books that “The average annual salary for senior

pastors with congregations of 2,000 or more is $147,000, with some earning up to

$400,000.” Finance.senate.gov expands on that by saying that “In addition to the

federal exemption on housing expenses enjoyed by these ministers, they often pay

zero dollars in state property tax. Church leaders Creflo and Taffi Dollar of World

Changers Church International had three tax-free parsonages: a million-dollar

mansion in Atlanta, GA, a two-million-dollar mansion in Fayetteville, GA, and a

$2.5 million Manhattan apartment.” According to former White House senior

policy analyst Jeff Schweitzer, Ph.D., United States churches own $300-$500

billion in an untaxed property. According to a July 2011 analysis by New York’s

Independent Budget Office, New York City alone loses $627 million in annual

property tax revenue due to 9,500 churches being tax-exempt.

Secondly, Senators, it restricts progressive social elements. Listland.com uses this

following example, “In a system where theft is viewed as a wrongful crime, the

punishment of the crime should reflect the belief that the crime is wrongful. Should

a thief be allowed to go free without being punished, this will set precedent for

future thieves to get away with theft, thus eroding the belief that theft is a wrongful

crime, a concept that the system was built upon in the first place. In governments

where equality to progress is a belief that is highly valued, to favor one over the

other by providing it with a tax exemption effectively undermines that self same

concept of equality. Had the government been founded with something like the

protection of religious rights as a core, then this would be understandable.” And

the Atlantic expands by saying, to exempt churches from taxation unfairly restricts

the ability of other social elements that deserve to progress, and thereby goes

against what the government was built to do in the first place.

Senators, there’s a growing clamor to raise taxes on the wealthy to provide more

opportunity for the rest of us. I ask you this, Senators, do we risk it? Or do we take

it? Which is why…

Senators, for the following reasons I give you today I urge you to vote in

negation/affirmation of Senator _______________________’s legislation for the

following two reasons: one, “parsonage exemption” on ministers’ homes makes

pastors even richer, and two, it restricts progressive social elements. Senators, tax

exemption is a priviledge, not a right.