Churches should donate 5-15% of their income to The Federal Government!
- by: L Llewelllyn James
- recipient: T.D. Jakes Ministries, Joel Osteen Ministries and Creflo Dollar Ministries
As the modern non-profit religious institution continues to enjoy the rewards of tax-emempt status in The United States, it's become obvious that this fact has permitted many charlatans, cowards, criminals and liars who have NO interest in spiritual ideals and an obsession with using tax-exempt status to fleece the public and the government alike to enrich themselves, shamelessly.
This petition seeks to throw a spotlight on this behavior and truth, by asking a simple question: would any of the organizations addressed in this petition consider donating 5-15% of their gross annual income to the Government that sponsors and supports their well-being? The idea is to ask religious organizations to emulate the great burden that their members face---namely, paying taxes---in an effort to show the secrecy and vitriol these self-same organizations would react with, out of sheer fear of losing even ONE PENNY of their massive, multi-million dollar revenue stream (in direct opposition to their alleged "faith" in a God that will bless them immensely, in spite of any money problems they may face)...
Dear Joel Osteen Ministries, Creflo Dollar Ministries and T.D. Jakes Ministries:
In The United States, Religious Organizations enjoy an economic safeguard that many outsiders throughout the world denote as an unfair advantage: namely, being exempt from any and all taxation from the state.
Admittedly, even as many non-profit Religious Organizations are using the funds that they receive from their parishioners and congregation members for many altruistic services, many Christian Ministries such as your own still accumulate hundreds of Millions of Dollars in tax-free, annual revenue that it never pays to the American Government...unlike the modern church's congregation members in The United States, who have to pay Federal and State Income Taxes on virtually every purchase they make as well as every dollar they earn along with an ever-rising cost of living AND (if they're regular church attendees) regular donations to the Church Collection Plate every Saturday and/or Sunday.
However, the Gospels and The New Testament of The Holy Bible offer many instances wherein Jesus, his apostles and (later) The Apostle John exhorted the followers of Christ to share in the burdens of the common people, so as to present an example of faithfulness to the will of God that extends beyond the physical plane (as is evidenced by Christ's life in abject poverty leading to his death and its presented meaning, followed closely by the struggles of Christ's apostles in a similar vein--including, most notably, The Apostle Paul's dedication to engaging in arduous, menial labor so as to provide the Churches of his day with an example of humble servitude and a spirit of penitent working [1 Thessalonians 2: 4-9]).
Of course, Today's Modern Christian Church in The United States is allowed a great deal of economic comfort that has become both the envy---and scorn---of many of its greatest champions and detractors, alike. The purpose of this petition is to encourage your respective organizations---Church ministries in the United States that bring in nearly a quarter of a Billion Dollars in annual revenue, collectively---to serve as a reminder to your congregations of Christ's mandate to suffer with the common people while literally paying prices that you are not necessarily required to even recognize as a "burden"...precisely because it serves to strengthen the faith of your congregation to see that their collective burdens are shared by Church Leaders in ways that can be measured in simple, quantitative and economic terms.
In short, Both I and all of the supporters of this petition would like to ask that you prove the atheist community, skeptics, agnostics and disillusioned believers all wrong in their allegations of Non-Profit Religious Organizations in general (and The Modern Christian Church, specifically) being nothing more than evil, chicanery-addled dog-and-pony shows designed to fleece people of their hard-earned income with mythological stories of magical, mysterious individuals who had never existed, under the pretense of "spiritual renewal" and "learning to temper one's life with knowledge of The Grace of God".
We know that you all wish to prove that you care more about sacrifice and grateful service to a higher power than you do to simple monetary concerns, so we would like to suggest that your organizations---in an emulation of annual income taxation that your own congregants must adhere to, with The Federal Government---simply donate 5-15% of your annual Income to The United States Federal Government in a self-imposed "tithing tax".
As Jesus lived his entire life serving the people in complete economic ruin, Your own Church should feel privileged to share in just a small sample of both his as well as your congregations yearly taxation by the state, so as to ensure that the Modern Church is not prone to falling into the trap of material greed which the Bible warns will result in a decimation of all of our spiritual lives (1st Timothy 6:10), as well as show solidarity with and understanding of the tenets of both Christ's greater call to engagement with the people, while commiserating with compassion with your present day Congregation's terror in the midst of horrid, sometimes unbearable economic times.
Thank you for your time,
L. Llewellyn James
Founder and CEO
Alphaholics Non-Anonymous Art Studios
www.alphaholism.blogspot.com
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