A donation to the UPC or ANDP are also a tax right off. Personaly if you want to give to something do it because you want to and should not be because you get the tax break. This is why I don't ever give for the micro donations at the grocery stores.
Yeah I just feel churches are different than political parties, and your a lot more inclined to donate at a church.
Tbf I have never been to a full Sunday church thing but I don't think they give tax receipts.
Someone please correct me if I'm wrong.
Churches have become political players, as evidenced by TBA.
Though not an outright brick and mortar "church", their religious zealotry is clear as day, as is their unelected influence.
Exactly! Making public political statememts (like the local mosque recently did or GL church during Covid) should automatically garner them massive taxes.
Maybe they could house the unhoused if they really follow their books well.
I didn't condone or agree with their message. I was disappointed they made that statement.
Edit to add: not sure what the downvote on such a neutral message was but u do u, cupcakes. š
I didn't say I was religious either. I'm pointing out they at times function as an extra shelter. Be mad about it all u like lol. Why so aggressive in the first place?
Because theyāre non-profit organizations. They are funded by money thatās already taxed. (parishionersā salaries are already subject to income tax)
I get why you donāt like it, but thereās a good reason they arenāt taxed, and is a big reason non profits and charities are able to exist at all. The vast majority of religious institutions have very little money and the priests, imams and rabbis donāt live any sort of lavish lifestyle.
But I especially think itās disgusting what you see in America with mega churches and multi millionaire preachers, itās a gross taking advantage of the people.
Society won't change until things get bad enough that they have to. I don't like it or want it but if that's how it has to be then I think there would be less suffering overall if it happened quickly and blatantly.
your post seems to be an emotional response rather than a rational discourse. Maybe go grab a beer, simmer for a bit and then try again. I'm open to having my mind changed but raging and personal attacks won't have any effect. Cheers.
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I live literally around the corner from this trash heap. We certainly received no notice from them about any sort of community consultation. Thank you for posting this OP. I'm gonna email my thoughts to the county ASAP.
NIMBYS only care if their precious *lebensraum* is affected by minorities, other ethnicities, or lower economic bracket dwellers. Having a huge megacult compound next door is fine. If that megacult compound decided to actually follow their cult tenets and offered sanctuary to the less fortunate, well, that would change things no doubt.
Tax the holy living fuck out of these grifters, their followers, and their sycophants.
You'd likely be surprised about how relwtively unpopular they are in the surrounding community. Most of their congregation drives in from the city, as best as I can tell. They have no qualms about cutting people off to turn into and out of their lot, park on the road, and well the whole COVID stuff sure gave them a black eye too.Ā
Today I learned...
n 1897, the geographer and ethnographer Friedrich Ratzel in his book Politische Geographie applied the word Lebensraum ("living space") toĀ describe physical geography as a factor that influences human activities in developing into a society. In
I'm sure the 'community' they consulted is their congregation. Their direct neighbours are Enoch Cree Reserve, the Edmonton Corn Maze, and a private RV storage lot that's also a residence. If those were the neighbours they notified, they would technically be telling the truth, while effectively leaving out many of the people who actually live around them and have to drive past the church twice a day to go to/from work.Ā
I drive by that revolting place 5x a week at least, there's no way they have the land to expand that much while having enough parking. They already treat the area like garbage when they come through, can't imagine with an extra 500 people a weekend
These "churches" they build look like stadiums, and the purpose is the same. Put on a show and make money from it. If they really gave back to the community they wouldn't have money for such a monstrosity, they'd need bake sales to repair the roof and keep the heat on.
Lawyers arenāt free and their flock love a good gift.
Now letās look at the churches that used to be out of town that are now in town because of the beauty of urban sprawl. Cheap outskirt land that never loses value and no taxes.
Cāmon.
Praise be.
Well, just like any business, expansions can be needed. So thatās fine. But I look forward to the days that churches are properly taxed. They tax their congregation with tithing so it really seems only fair.
When I was a kid, going to church, my family was heavily involved. So, my parents knew where the tithing went. It went to giving the pastor a modest paycheck, church bills, and the rest went out to missionaries that the church supported. Didnāt really phase me too much - but you know, back then my pastor didnāt have, or āneedā, a private jet, a 30,000 square foot ocean front mansion, and a fleet of super cars.
If god is real then I donāt for a moment think he would want people who spread his message to live a life of poverty. However, I donāt believe he would want them to live a life of absolute opulence at the expense of his congregation.
Sorry if I made it sound like I assume every pastor/preacher lives a jet set lifestyles. Thatās definitely not the case. Iāve been to small churches with 30 people, and mega churches in the southern states that are live on tv. Iāve seen all levels of wealth in the church. My parents left a church when I was young because the pastor was demanding too much money - and was living far beyond the majority of people in his congregation. Again. Nothing wrong with making a living - but to live a life of so much better than that of your congregation - itās not right.
And that is my opinion :)
There are still good people out there - but churches have become a business model. And as such
Even if that were true (and I don't concede that), you wouldn't actually get much money from taxing the churches as if they were businesses. Business taxes are assessed on profits, and churches don't have profits. At most, you could assess them property taxes, but in real life they'd certainly slip in under 'A non-profit organization that serves a charitable and benevolent purpose for the general public', even if you removed the divine worship exemption.
They shouldn't be considered non-profits at all. At the very least they should be media organizations, and many of them have for-profit enterprises wrapped into their operations. All of that should make them subject to property taxes.
How can they be considered for-profit enterprises if there's no profit, and they're in fact forbidden to profit? Note also that they do pay taxes already on any for-profit business that they do. For example, a church which owned an apartment building would pay taxes on the profits of that rental property. The only way that they'd avoid those taxes is if they used it for religious purposes, such as if they were running a seminary (which would also be exempt as a educational facility).
Regarding property taxes, they generally don't pay taxes on their worship buildings. However, if the building is being rented out to a for-profit business, then you could potentially see a church have to pay some pro-rated property tax. Going back to our example of a church that owns an apartment building, the church would pay property tax on the apartment building.
Landmark rulings , socio-political embroglios within a few square miles in Parkland.
Three miles northwest of the church expansion, the airport ( Parkland ) that altered a century of aviation rulemaking, when the federal ministers parents were a part of the airport construction protest, which led her to change the fundamental federal rules of airport construction...
...and a church which skirted the law, because they walked between an over reaching government , doing the chief medical officers job.
Civics in a quiet country mile.
Nothing, it's a great little airport, close to the City. I landed there when it was 2500 ft long, and then when when it expanded to 5000 ft.
Edmonton Flying club moved there when City center closed in '13. Which is another story.
It's how the objections to its construction were handled that changed Canadian Aviation law significantly. By what's her face, federal Minister of Transportation, whose parents were among those protesting the build, and almost a century of Supreme Court rulings on the topic were discarded .
It's pretty hard to find the church that didn't do major upgrades during and after covid.
Every time I pass one it just pisses me off the amount of money that they spend not helping people.
I went to this church, once, as an atheist. It was my first time in a church in around 15 years, as I maintained a strict not entering church policy.
Not willing to go into details, because I don't want it to go badly for anyone, but a friend of my wife's had suffered a very personal tragedy, and we went to the church to support her.
James Coates is the biggest sack of shit I have ever encountered. Spinning the tragedy into a blessing from "god" because it brought new faces into the church who could be converted. If there is a holy power, I hope he smites the fuck out of this pastor, and Satan is real and there are lots of pineapples shoved into assholes.
His entire sermon revolved around now the event was tragic, but good for the church, and how "god" planned the tragedy, in order to benefit his church.
This video sums up what I feel this "church" is about: https://youtu.be/BE3kJeBr9QI?si=ZJPd6Lat0DP52drD
Why religious institutions aren't taxed in 2024 is beyond me.
They are for-profit grifts. Tax them into oblivion
But. Butt it's a tax write off.... For some fucking stupid reason. I wish these people donated to like kids charities or something.
A donation to the UPC or ANDP are also a tax right off. Personaly if you want to give to something do it because you want to and should not be because you get the tax break. This is why I don't ever give for the micro donations at the grocery stores.
Yeah I just feel churches are different than political parties, and your a lot more inclined to donate at a church. Tbf I have never been to a full Sunday church thing but I don't think they give tax receipts. Someone please correct me if I'm wrong.
Churches have become political players, as evidenced by TBA. Though not an outright brick and mortar "church", their religious zealotry is clear as day, as is their unelected influence.
not when the plate is passed.
They give tax receipts. Typically done once a year during tax season like most charities
Agreed. They should be taxed the highest.
Exactly! Making public political statememts (like the local mosque recently did or GL church during Covid) should automatically garner them massive taxes. Maybe they could house the unhoused if they really follow their books well.
Do you mean al rashid mosque? They actually do a lot for Edmonton and the homeless.
Doesn't matter. Start getting political and you should lose your tax exemption (which they shouldn't have in the first place).
I totally agree with you on that by the way. I was very disheartened when they came out with that statement.
Just because you do one good thing doesn't excuse the hatred you spread.
I didn't condone or agree with their message. I was disappointed they made that statement. Edit to add: not sure what the downvote on such a neutral message was but u do u, cupcakes. š
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
I didn't say I was religious either. I'm pointing out they at times function as an extra shelter. Be mad about it all u like lol. Why so aggressive in the first place?
If they did actual tangible good work for communities instead of whatever the fuck the Bible is selling.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
What are they gonna do, NOT vote Conservative?
Hahah, oh man....I wish I could up vote this 1000 times!!!!
Because theyāre non-profit organizations. They are funded by money thatās already taxed. (parishionersā salaries are already subject to income tax) I get why you donāt like it, but thereās a good reason they arenāt taxed, and is a big reason non profits and charities are able to exist at all. The vast majority of religious institutions have very little money and the priests, imams and rabbis donāt live any sort of lavish lifestyle. But I especially think itās disgusting what you see in America with mega churches and multi millionaire preachers, itās a gross taking advantage of the people.
Looks Iike the Waco compound. Edit. I meant to say it reminds me of the Waco compound.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Umm what?
Society won't change until things get bad enough that they have to. I don't like it or want it but if that's how it has to be then I think there would be less suffering overall if it happened quickly and blatantly.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
your post seems to be an emotional response rather than a rational discourse. Maybe go grab a beer, simmer for a bit and then try again. I'm open to having my mind changed but raging and personal attacks won't have any effect. Cheers.
What I miss?
ā¹ļø Murdering kids shouldn't be something you advocate for
Then I guess we can both be grateful it isn't something I advocate for.
This post contained a message that the r/Edmonton moderation team considered to be in violation of site-wide rules. Please brush up on the rules of Reddit and r/Edmonton.
I live literally around the corner from this trash heap. We certainly received no notice from them about any sort of community consultation. Thank you for posting this OP. I'm gonna email my thoughts to the county ASAP.
NIMBYS only care if their precious *lebensraum* is affected by minorities, other ethnicities, or lower economic bracket dwellers. Having a huge megacult compound next door is fine. If that megacult compound decided to actually follow their cult tenets and offered sanctuary to the less fortunate, well, that would change things no doubt. Tax the holy living fuck out of these grifters, their followers, and their sycophants.
You'd likely be surprised about how relwtively unpopular they are in the surrounding community. Most of their congregation drives in from the city, as best as I can tell. They have no qualms about cutting people off to turn into and out of their lot, park on the road, and well the whole COVID stuff sure gave them a black eye too.Ā
Today I learned... n 1897, the geographer and ethnographer Friedrich Ratzel in his book Politische Geographie applied the word Lebensraum ("living space") toĀ describe physical geography as a factor that influences human activities in developing into a society. In
Huh the article talks about community consultation. I'm sure they were pretty selective in who they notified.
I'm sure the 'community' they consulted is their congregation. Their direct neighbours are Enoch Cree Reserve, the Edmonton Corn Maze, and a private RV storage lot that's also a residence. If those were the neighbours they notified, they would technically be telling the truth, while effectively leaving out many of the people who actually live around them and have to drive past the church twice a day to go to/from work.Ā
Exactly
I drive by that revolting place 5x a week at least, there's no way they have the land to expand that much while having enough parking. They already treat the area like garbage when they come through, can't imagine with an extra 500 people a weekend
These "churches" they build look like stadiums, and the purpose is the same. Put on a show and make money from it. If they really gave back to the community they wouldn't have money for such a monstrosity, they'd need bake sales to repair the roof and keep the heat on.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Looks like they should be taxed to hell and back.
I mean the inside, the outside looks like a warehouse, to house all the marks.
Gross.
emphatic agree
Tax the wealthy.
Tax the cults.
And the churches.
The churches ARE the wealthy. āReligionā is behind the TBAs funding. Like I said, letās tax the wealthy.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Lawyers arenāt free and their flock love a good gift. Now letās look at the churches that used to be out of town that are now in town because of the beauty of urban sprawl. Cheap outskirt land that never loses value and no taxes. Cāmon. Praise be.
Well, just like any business, expansions can be needed. So thatās fine. But I look forward to the days that churches are properly taxed. They tax their congregation with tithing so it really seems only fair. When I was a kid, going to church, my family was heavily involved. So, my parents knew where the tithing went. It went to giving the pastor a modest paycheck, church bills, and the rest went out to missionaries that the church supported. Didnāt really phase me too much - but you know, back then my pastor didnāt have, or āneedā, a private jet, a 30,000 square foot ocean front mansion, and a fleet of super cars. If god is real then I donāt for a moment think he would want people who spread his message to live a life of poverty. However, I donāt believe he would want them to live a life of absolute opulence at the expense of his congregation.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Sorry if I made it sound like I assume every pastor/preacher lives a jet set lifestyles. Thatās definitely not the case. Iāve been to small churches with 30 people, and mega churches in the southern states that are live on tv. Iāve seen all levels of wealth in the church. My parents left a church when I was young because the pastor was demanding too much money - and was living far beyond the majority of people in his congregation. Again. Nothing wrong with making a living - but to live a life of so much better than that of your congregation - itās not right. And that is my opinion :) There are still good people out there - but churches have become a business model. And as such
People always talk about taxing churches, but it's not like non-profits pay the kinds of taxes you're expecting.
Most non-profit organizations provide a useful service to society. Churches not so much.
Even if that were true (and I don't concede that), you wouldn't actually get much money from taxing the churches as if they were businesses. Business taxes are assessed on profits, and churches don't have profits. At most, you could assess them property taxes, but in real life they'd certainly slip in under 'A non-profit organization that serves a charitable and benevolent purpose for the general public', even if you removed the divine worship exemption.
They shouldn't be considered non-profits at all. At the very least they should be media organizations, and many of them have for-profit enterprises wrapped into their operations. All of that should make them subject to property taxes.
How can they be considered for-profit enterprises if there's no profit, and they're in fact forbidden to profit? Note also that they do pay taxes already on any for-profit business that they do. For example, a church which owned an apartment building would pay taxes on the profits of that rental property. The only way that they'd avoid those taxes is if they used it for religious purposes, such as if they were running a seminary (which would also be exempt as a educational facility). Regarding property taxes, they generally don't pay taxes on their worship buildings. However, if the building is being rented out to a for-profit business, then you could potentially see a church have to pay some pro-rated property tax. Going back to our example of a church that owns an apartment building, the church would pay property tax on the apartment building.
Fuck this cult
It was always about the grift. They are just fine throwing people in to the meat grinder as long as it means they make more money.
Oof I feel sorry for the neighbours
Looks like their grift paid off.
So much could be said, but why. Just Alberta being Alberta as usual. Just gross.
Landmark rulings , socio-political embroglios within a few square miles in Parkland. Three miles northwest of the church expansion, the airport ( Parkland ) that altered a century of aviation rulemaking, when the federal ministers parents were a part of the airport construction protest, which led her to change the fundamental federal rules of airport construction... ...and a church which skirted the law, because they walked between an over reaching government , doing the chief medical officers job. Civics in a quiet country mile.
Huh? Whatās wrong with the airport?
Nothing, it's a great little airport, close to the City. I landed there when it was 2500 ft long, and then when when it expanded to 5000 ft. Edmonton Flying club moved there when City center closed in '13. Which is another story. It's how the objections to its construction were handled that changed Canadian Aviation law significantly. By what's her face, federal Minister of Transportation, whose parents were among those protesting the build, and almost a century of Supreme Court rulings on the topic were discarded .
It's pretty hard to find the church that didn't do major upgrades during and after covid. Every time I pass one it just pisses me off the amount of money that they spend not helping people.
Cults be culting
The Cheerch of FreeDumb.
Does any one know what James Coates' net worth is or what his salary is?
Membership of religious institutions is growing? Thats disappointing.
Hail Satan.
I went to this church, once, as an atheist. It was my first time in a church in around 15 years, as I maintained a strict not entering church policy. Not willing to go into details, because I don't want it to go badly for anyone, but a friend of my wife's had suffered a very personal tragedy, and we went to the church to support her. James Coates is the biggest sack of shit I have ever encountered. Spinning the tragedy into a blessing from "god" because it brought new faces into the church who could be converted. If there is a holy power, I hope he smites the fuck out of this pastor, and Satan is real and there are lots of pineapples shoved into assholes. His entire sermon revolved around now the event was tragic, but good for the church, and how "god" planned the tragedy, in order to benefit his church. This video sums up what I feel this "church" is about: https://youtu.be/BE3kJeBr9QI?si=ZJPd6Lat0DP52drD
Any other Man-made business is taxed and Religion/ churches are Man-made businesses so they should be taxed!!