Recently I have noticed
and read posts on social media about the Supreme Court case regarding gay
marriage. There is apparently some concern about religious liberty and concern
for non-profit colleges should there be favor for gay marriage. There are a few things I would like to share
and point out. It is of no surprise that I am all for marriage equality; that’s
right, marriage equality. There is no such thing as gay marriage just like
there’s no such thing as gay money; which, by the way, no one has a problem
taking. So, it would come as no surprise that I would be blogging about this.
Let’s tackle first the concern about non-profit businesses, colleges, and
churches.
I will not pretend to
understand tax exemption in its entirety. I do know that exemptions are much
like tax deductions and paying less [or no] taxes depending on the
organizations and the donors. What I will say is this; I do not believe that
churches should be tax exempt, but should pay taxes like everyone else. Why do
I say that? Because it is biblically sound; because I am going by what Jesus
said in response to the Pharisees when they asked about paying taxes. Jesus answered
first with a question while holding a denarius in His hand and the question was
“whose image and inscription is this?” The answer was Caesar. Then Jesus said “Render
therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s and to God the things that are
God’s” (Nelson, 1997, pp. Matthew 22:20-22) . I don’t think it
can be made any clearer that taxes must be paid; period. He did not give a pass
to anyone. You hypocrites; you dare to use the Bible and God’s word
[incorrectly by the way] to condemn the union of two people of the same gender,
yet you blatantly disregard what our Lord said regarding the payment of taxes.
Shame on you.
The next issue I want
to touch on is Religious Liberty; what is it; what does it mean? How about we
break it down a bit just so that there’s no confusion; by definition, liberty
is basically having the freedom of choice to act or speak without restraint (Merriam-Webster Dictionary, 2015) . According to
Article 18(1) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political rights, “Everyone shall have the right to freedom of
thought, conscience, and religion. This right shall include freedom to have or
adopt a religion or belief of his choice, and freedom, either individually or
in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or
belief in worship, observance, practice, and teaching”. The First Amendment
reads “Congress shall make no law
respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise
thereof;…………”. What does that mean? It means that the government cannot set
up a single religion for all people to worship alike. In other words, it is
unconstitutional for the government to set up a single religion that we all
must follow. We have the freedom, the right, to choose.
With that said, religion
is not a business or a college. Religion is about a relationship with God
through the means of worship, trust, belief, and faith in God. If you want to
run a business then run a business; your faith has nothing to do with it. If
you can’t or won’t handle the fact that you have to pay taxes according to God,
or that your faith has nothing to do with baking a cake, then you have some
issues. Personally, if you won’t bake me a cake for my wedding I would just go
elsewhere, but that’s me; I pick and choose my battles and I understand and
accept that not everyone would do the same as me. The fact of the matter is
that your business has nothing to do with worship or with God. If you won’t
follow all that God has said, then don’t bother cherry picking the bible for
that which suits you or is financially convenient for you.
So, this is the first
part of my rant. I will have the other half shortly because no, I am not done
yet. There’s still the whole “Definition of Marriage” crap that gets thrown
around as if the correct definition is being given. I also want to touch a
little more on religious liberty according to the intent of the founding
fathers. It’s a hoot.
Merriam-Webster Dictionary. (2015). Retrieved from www.merriam-webster.com
Nelson, T. (1997). The Nelson Study Bible.
Nashville.
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