--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, TurquoiseB <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, "do.rflex" <do.rflex@> wrote: > > > > The Mormon church also for example, takes in approx $500,000,000.00 > > per month and the membership is required to pay 10% monthly of their > > income to the church in order to maintain their 'worthiness' status > > to receive a certificate allowing them to participate in their > > temple ceremonies and get to their highest heaven. > > > > The point is that the Mormon church really does not want to pay > > taxes on all that free cash and its implications of power by > > pissing off the IRS. They are meticulously careful to stay just > > barely within the parameters of the law, which they have taken to > > its bare limits in the Prop 8 situation. > > > > If they and the RCC were totally unfettered in their efforts it > > would be a slam dunk for them to block vote themselves into > > practically any area they wished. As it is, it appears that they > > succeeded anyway - which further shows that they need more > > restraint. > > And they have succeeded in Utah as well, which is > why I don't see why you are clinging to this argument. > Have you ever tried to buy a drink there? I did, on > one of my many visits to Moab. Moab is about as far > away from the headquarters and domination of the > Mormon Church as it is possible to be, both physically > and spiritually, but you still have to go through the > pretense of filling out a form to "join the private > club" before anyone can serve you a beer. > > I understand that there could be some areas in which > the majority would rule, and rule harshly, attempting > to impose their Puritanical beliefs on others. But my > point is that this happens ANYWAY. Churches fuck with > politics all the time. Why not make them pay for the > privilege like everybody else.
What restraint they DO have they have as a result of, among other laws, the threats to their tax exemption. Without it they would without a doubt be far worse. I lived in Mormon Utah for 35+ years and I can attest first hand that they get away with imposing their horseshit beliefs as far as the laws allow - and stretch it at that. Getting rid of those laws and tax restraints would unlock the possibility of a direct tyrannical ecclesiastic rule. Under Brigham Young they used to kill people as part of church policy for not obeying the church priesthood. That was when Utah was for the most part isolated from the rest of the country and prior to statehood. But even after statehood and federal intervention the church got away with imposing its dictates unrestrained on non-members to whatever extent they could *legally* or covertly get away with. And they most often did. Today, the laws are more clearly defined and the church has an army of lawyers to use in getting away with their impositions on others to whatever extent they can within those laws. Their motive is to maintain and expand their 1/2 billion dollar monthly income [and power because of it] and keep their tax free status while doing it. They will back off when those exemptions are threatened like when it came to a head when they faced civil rights violations for institutionalizing racism. They had a 'convenient' revelation in 1978 that blacks all of a sudden became 'acceptable to the Lord'.
