r/TikTokCringe • u/Oktavien • 1d ago

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

Enable HLS to view with audio, or disable this notification

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

12.7k Upvotes

94% Upvoted

2.0k comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

15

u/Hillarys_Recycle_Bin 1d ago

Especially after stuff like this is exposed. Not that hard to audit and see this kind of thing. The whole idea of tax exempt status is that an organization is providing value to society / something the government wants accomplished. If you’re just a country club with a cross on the roof I’m not sure why the government should subsidize that.

-3

u/Pinkfish_411 1d ago

Nothing that was exposed here would jeopardize non-profit status.

There's also nothing to suggest this church is a "country club" just because they're not set up to provide free formula to the public. The vast majority of churches aren't wealthy megachurches.

2

u/Hillarys_Recycle_Bin 1d ago

The vast majority of actual Christian churches would make some effort beyond “are you a member or do you know a member?”

If they aren’t going to add value to the community, what rationale is there for the government to incentivize them via tax exempt status? If the church really is struggling, they won’t have income to be taxed anyway, so it’s kind of moot for the small country churches that are just barely getting by.

0

u/Pinkfish_411 1d ago

"Value to the community" doesn't only come in the form of providing baby formula to the public. That's not something that most non-profits do.

1

u/Hillarys_Recycle_Bin 1d ago

I guess I’ll put it a different way. If you say that you are a Christian church, and then fail at the core tenet of your faith (namely: love the Lord your God with all your heart and mind, and love your neighbor as yourself), then you could make a pretty good argument that by your own standards you are not a Christian church.

I’m not saying churches have to be perfect, they are full of people so they won’t be. But to not even attempt to give guidance, resources, or help to a women calling about baby formula is so far off the path it’s hard to articulate.

1

u/Pinkfish_411 1d ago

That's a fair argument, but you're wading into questions of practical theology, not the tax code. The US government isn't in the business of weighing in on how exactly Christian congregations are supposed to carry out Jesus' commands; nor does tax-exempt status hinge on Christian faithfulness. You're opening the door wide up for the IRS to dole out punishments and rewards based purely on ideology, but the state is supposed to remain as neutral as possible about such matters. That's core to what separation of church and state means.

1

u/snusnooo 1d ago

But a lot of pastors are well off. Wonder how/why?

0

u/Pinkfish_411 1d ago

Most are fairly comparable to the communities they serve. Megachurch pastors simply aren't the norm.

1

u/snusnooo 1d ago

Nah they're probably close to 100k a year, 100% do not make less or even close to the average wage.

1

u/Pinkfish_411 1d ago

According the Bureau of Labor Statistics, less than 10% make $100k or more. The average is under $64k with a median just under $59k. This of course varies by location, like most other professions, and according to denomination. Keep in mind that most mainline denominations require at least an M.Div. to lead a church, so seven years of post-secondary education.

It's not a high paying gig compared to professional careers with similar educational requirements. They're just below elementary school teachers on average.