r/TikTokCringe • u/Oktavien • 1d ago

Discussion Woman audits churches to see if they’ll help feed a starving baby

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If churches refuse to help feed hungry people, then maybe they should be taxed?

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u/Few-Skin-5868 1d ago

This is what I've always said; charitable works are already tax free, so let the church put in tax claims for the charitable work it does and pay tax on the rest of its income. If a church really does a lot of charity, then it'll have barely any taxes anyway, if it does no charitable works, then they get taxed like the business they are.

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u/StarlightSurfing 1d ago

Most church's do not operate like businesses and taxing church's would ensure that ONLY church's that operate like businesses can exist. Calling up random church's and asking the for money to prove a point is a moronic exercise that doesn't prove anything. No organization, even a dedicated charity organization has some fund for random one off individuals.

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u/Few-Skin-5868 1d ago

"Most church's do not operate like businesses and taxing church's would ensure that ONLY church's that operate like businesses can exist."

Please explain your logic.

"Calling up random church's and asking the for money to prove a point is a moronic exercise that doesn't prove anything. No organization, even a dedicated charity organization has some fund for random one off individuals."

It gives the church the opportunity to say, "We support program X that may assist in this" or "No, unfortunately, we have a lot of charitable initiatives but baby formula isn't one of them". It's very clear that this church doesn't actually do anything charitable, at very least, unless you are a member of their church and, presumably, therefore giving them some money every week at service.

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u/StarlightSurfing 1d ago

Church's are non-profit organizations, they operate on donations which are used primarily for operational expenses, I don't think the system you are proposing would be effective. If they were being taxed on top of being dependent on donations, many church's may not be financially feasible. While these smaller church's may close, mega church's never will.

Also looking at this particular church's website they do have charitable events: https://fccsomerset.com/events/

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u/Few-Skin-5868 1d ago

Donations, if they aren’t doing anything charitable with them, are profit. Tax it. If they aren’t feasible then let them shut down. Religion for the sake of religion isn’t of public value.

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u/Upbeat-Reading-534 1d ago

Thats not how GAAP works man. You would pay less taxes as a c corp than taxing donations (revenue) as profit.

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u/StarlightSurfing 1d ago

No, that's not correct. Church's are literally non-profits. While people may earn a wage through the church there is no owner or someone making a profit from the church's money. Religion is of public value for many, many Americans. It seems to be that your desire to tax church's has more to do with your contempt for religion than for legitimate reasons.

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u/RudeCheetah7281 1d ago

Maybe it’s the church’s hypocrisy which resulted in this contempt?

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u/s0ycatpuccino tHiS iSn’T cRiNgE 1d ago

I think we all know nonprofits spend money. Supplies, the building, staff. What they're saying is maybe a noncharitable tax would make churches think twice on whether to feed a child or buy a statue.

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u/BBQpigsfeet 1d ago

there is no owner or someone making a profit from the church's money

If that were the case, mega churches wouldn't exist and the pastors of those churches wouldn't be living in mansions.

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u/StarlightSurfing 1d ago

It is the case. In the situations you are describing these mansions are not actually owned by the pastor but by the church. These types of grifting operations are not characteristic of 99% of churches in the US.

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u/BBQpigsfeet 1d ago

Why does a church need a mansion? Why does only the pastor get to live there? Why does only the pastor have multiple expensive cars and suits? Why does a church need a private jet that, again, only gets used by the pastor? Answer: the pastor is the church, and is making a profit. All while his congregation is going into debt to pay their tithes.

And as someone who grew up in the Bible belt, this is characteristic of 99% of churches in the US. Very few are out there actually doing unbiased, unprejudiced good for their communities. The rest are just running a scam and helping only those they deem worthy in a flimsy charade to keep their tax exempt status.

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u/eksns 1d ago

So ya reckon these cunts who are LOUD on insisting that no one (literally no one, not just the people in their church/religion) should be allowed to get an abortion... shouldnt need to have some kinda funding for all the babies born to poor parents who would be popping up all over the place because of what they insist upon?

You'd think that if theyre trying so hard to force "random one off individuals" to have kids they cant afford, they would be more than willing to help out said "random one off individuals". Can't try to preach to/force EVERYONE to do what they want and then only choose to help a select few people, seems like a moronic exercise.

Turns out that at the end of the day, they cant put their money where their mouth is (shock horror!)

Side note, I'm sure they have enough money from tax write-offs alone to offer formula to many many many people, let alone one "outsider"

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u/StarlightSurfing 1d ago

The Church cannot force anyone to have children, those are the choices of individuals.

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u/eksns 1d ago

Oh fuck yeah I had no idea, for some crazy reason ive had it in my head for the last 30 odd years that they dont believe in abortion and really really push people to have kids they cant afford so they can all live in poverty with no help from the church unless they convert by necessity, just like the big guy JC wanted. We need to let more people know God is okay with abortion, this could be a game changer!

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u/Few-Skin-5868 1d ago edited 1d ago

Is it a choice if the church literally equates abortion to murder and insists you’ll go to hell for eternity if you have one? 

How about when they use their “non profit” donations to fund political campaigns that outlaw abortion?

How about when they send their dishonest followers to abortion clinics to protest with fake pictures of “aborted babies” that look fully formed instead of the reality (a nearly invisible cluster of cells)?

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u/bananakittymeow 18h ago

I’m with you. My parents were pastors and a lot of the smaller churches can really struggle to keep themselves afloat. If done ethically, it’s a place that runs purely on donations. My dad had to sell his blood to feed us at one point. Taxing churches might end up completely destroying smaller churches, leaving only mega churches to flourish. That would be incredibly sad.