jdhill 0 #51 July 7, 2005 QuoteYes. You can kill chickens if you want. OK, then I could also kill a person... that is the natural extension of your argument... since a law prohibiting the killing of a person would not apply to a religion... QuoteWant to pass a law concerning a religion? That's the point... in my example of property taxes its not a law concerning religion, it is a law concerning property owners, period. If the church happens to be a proerty owner, then the law should apply to them, as a property owner, not as a church... Quote?? I'm not interpreting; I'm going by what it says. You're making up what _you_ think it means. You are interpriting by choosing 1) which part of the clause to focus on, and 2) by which definitions of the words you choose to use. Use different definitions of a few key words, and the clause means something different. You need to take the whole clause, not just two words, "...no law respecting an establishment of religion..." one of the definitions of "establishment" is "the act of establishing"... you are using one definition of establishment, I'm using another... we are both interpriting the word to mean something different... We can do it with "respecting"... "to feel or show deferential regard for" or "concerning"... If take the words, as you have suggested, and define them, one can very easily get to the government cannot pass a law showing deferential treatment for, or establish a religion... easier in fact than getting to the idea that that laws don't apply to the church. JAll that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing. - Edmund Burke Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
EricTheRed 0 #52 July 7, 2005 Bill, I'm going to side w/ jd on this. It would be entirely constitutional to tax churches IF all churches were taxed equally. Most churches are tax exempt anyway by their non-profit status, and some non-recognized, for profit churches do, in fact pay taxes. Now I don't know if these guys http://www.geocities.com/presleyterian_church/ pay taxes but I bet they legally should (if they actually make any $$ that is) edit to add Quote"Truly, Elvis has a hunka-hunka burning love for whosoever believeth in Him," said Rev. Farndu, pastor of the new churchillegible usually Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
