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State Favors Result in State Control of the Church
Persecution of Christians around the world is at an historic and
all-time high. While there is great cause for concern for their
plight, one thing we can be quite confident of is that the
Christian religion will live on. Christianity has outlived every
tyrannical regime, stretching from the Roman Empire, to the
Soviet Union. It will also outlive the murderous Islamic regime
Meet His SacrificeWould Jesus go to through all the suffering of the cross If God's promises were ..... of Sudan, and the totalitarian Communist tyranny of China.
History has repeatedly shown that brutally attacking the
Christian, whether through imprisonment, torture, or execution,
has never served to undermine faith. Persecution only serves to
strengthen the Christian faith.
Every time in history, and in every culture, when Christianity
has been assailed, the faith of its victims is bolstered, and
the gospel then spreads like a wild fire. A contemporary example
of this is China, where perhaps the greatest expansion of the
gospel in history is taking place, under the constant harassment
of a brutal Communist regime.
Modern enemies of the church are not altogether ignorant of this
phenomena, and at least some have recognized that much more
effective means are available for curtailing the expansion of
Christ's kingdom.
ArchetypesDEPTH PSYCHOLOGY (ARCHETYPES): - "All material bodies are condensations of frozen bodies." (2) Jung is becoming 'in vogue' again, I ..... In his seminal treatise on the political doctrine of the
separation of government powers, The Spirit Of the Laws (1748),
Montesquieu notes:
"Therefore, one does not succeed in detaching the soul from
religion by filling it with this great object, by bringing it
closer to the moment when it should find religion of greater
importance. A more certain way to attack religion is by favor,
by the comforts of life, by the hope of wealth; not by what
reminds one of it, but by what makes one forget it; not by what
makes one indignant, but by what makes men lukewarm, when other
passions act on our souls, and those which religion inspires are
silent. In the matter of changing religion, State favors are
stronger than penalties."
This is precisely the formula that has been followed by our own
government, in recent years, as it grows ever more hostile
toward Christian values. Rather than attack Christianity through
various "penalties", the modern method is to render the church
"lukewarm" by doling out "State favors." The most prominent of
"favors" today is the tax-exempt license. But in reality, the
granting of a tax exemption to the church is a monumental con
job.
Churches are not merely "exempt" from taxation because they make
Just WarIn an age of terrorism, guerilla and total warfare the medieval doctrine of Just War needs to be re-defined. Moreover, issues of legitimacy, ..... application to the IRS for that legal "privilege", they are
non-taxable because of the First Amendment. It's a matter of
jurisdiction. The government may only tax that which it has
jurisdiction over.
Interestingly enough, even the IRS acknowledges that churches
are tax-exempt and tax-deductible without ever applying for that
status. In their words, it's "automatic" (Pub. 557 and IRC Sec.
508). Furthermore, contributions to churches are also
"automatically" tax deductible (Pub. 526). Why then do churches
subordinate themselves to the IRS, and thereby waive many
important constitutionally guaranteed rights? Why do they agree
to the numerous restrictions imposed on them by the 501c3
status? Certainly not because they were well informed. It only
happens out of ignorance.
"My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge." (Hosea 4:6)
Many a preacher is getting fed up with having their tax-exempt
status held over their head, and used as a mechanism for
restricting their speech. The 501c3 is a huge liability to all
but the most politically correct of churches.
Churches generally organize as 501c3 at the advice of their
attorney; but those who did so only got one side of the story.
Just wait until you hear "the rest of the story."
For materials on how to unlicense your church, or to organize a
"free-church", call 1-417-337-7533, ext. 1, or visit us on the
web at: http://hushmoney.org. You may also request to have a
brochure mailed to you.
About the author:
Mr. Kershaw is a legal and historic researcher and founder of
Heal Our Land Ministries, and may be contacted through
http://hushmoney.org
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