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When is the last time you heard of a Mormon kid stealing, doing drugs, etc?
What would that have to do with running tax free businesses under the auspices of a religion?
How about the rest of us? If we raise a child ethically, instilling in that child a high moral character and strong sense of right or wrong, exactly like a religious organization or church would, and that child is never arrested for stealing or doing drugs, should we as parents then be rewarded with a tax free exemption for the rest of our lives, after that child graduates?
An argument could be made that as the child grows up and becomes an adult member of society he or she will use a minimum of government resources; police, courts, medicaid, etc, and the parents should be given credit financially for their efforts.
"I'm at that stage in life where I stay out of discussions. Even if you say 1+1=5, you're right - have fun." - Keanu Reeves
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glassnumbers complained about the structure that Mormons place upon their kids. I guess if I had said, "in Hawaii" when is the last time you heard of Mormon kids stealing and doing drugs, it might have went over better.
Also, Mormons are not limited to "white folks", in Hawaii.
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quote:
Originally posted by leilanidude
glassnumbers complained about the structure that Mormons place upon their kids. I guess if I had said, "in Hawaii" when is the last time you heard of Mormon kids stealing and doing drugs, it might have went over better.
Also, Mormons are not limited to "white folks", in Hawaii.
Considering they own the Polynesian Cultural Center on Oahu.. it makes his whole comment moot.
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Well, it wasn't until 1978 that they allowed blacks to join. Their doctrine also teaches that in biblical times whites and blacks lived in America and the dark skinned ones were evil and destroyed the whites, which is why when early explorers arrived there were no whites in America -- in spite of all scientific evidence they still insist on this story. They refuse repudiate their past racial doctrines.
They run the Polynesian Center and make large tax free profits from it. Employing locals doesn't mean his point is moot; however, they are the largest growing religion in Latin America though. In fact they are suffering from a large schism now over gay rights in their church.
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Maybe the answer is to tax ALL non-profits. Then there won't be any arguments about what group deserves tax-exempt status, and what group doesn't. You take in money, you pay taxes on it.
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"Maybe the answer is to tax ALL non-profits. Then there won't be any arguments about what group deserves tax-exempt status, and what group doesn't. You take in money, you pay taxes on it."
That would likely end astronomy on Mauna Kea.
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quote:
Originally posted by Eric1600
Well, it wasn't until 1978 that they allowed blacks to join. Their doctrine also teaches that in biblical times whites and blacks lived in America and the dark skinned ones were evil and destroyed the whites, which is why when early explorers arrived there were no whites in America -- in spite of all scientific evidence they still insist on this story. They refuse repudiate their past racial doctrines.
They run the Polynesian Center and make large tax free profits from it. Employing locals doesn't mean his point is moot; however, they are the largest growing religion in Latin America though. In fact they are suffering from a large schism now over gay rights in their church.
Thank you, Eric1600. So, wait, Leilanidude. Are you really saying that you have no problem with a religious group with racist doctrine that is predominately white and also owns the Polynesian Center?
"Nearly nine-in-ten Mormons in the U.S. (86%) are white, compared with 71% of the general population." http://www.pewforum.org/2009/07/24/a-por...in-the-us/
The beef I have with Christianity and religion in Hawai'i is that it was the missionaries who tried to wipe out the Hawai'ian language, their culture, their religion, and guess what, they succeeded more than people like to say. Nobody really speaks Hawai'ian anymore except on like, Ni'hau, I do not know of anyone who follows the old polytheism, and the old native Hawai'ian culture is not what the modern culture is, the modern culture springs forth from the cultural melting pot that occurred during the sugar plantation days.
Most churches I just stay quiet about because they do give back and help charitable organizations and help out poor people, their dark past is not their present. The Mormon Church is not a good thing, they are basically a cult, and their ongoing stupid war against gay folks is really telling. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disciplinary_council If you're caught being gay*, it may result in a Holy Church Tribunal where they decide to excommunicate your ass for being gay. Yeah, that's a real great organization of people. We definitely need more of that in Hawai'i, that's for sure.
*The law of chastity of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) states that "sexual relations are proper only between a man and a woman who are legally and lawfully wedded as husband and wife."In principle, this commandment forbids all same-sex sexual behavior (whether intra-marriage or extramarital). Homosexuality-related violations of the law of chastity may result in church discipline.
Aloha 
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Once you make one exception or special class in the law, no matter how well intentioned, the system gets convoluted and abused. Let's just treat everyone fairly and equally.
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TomK - I hear you, but more and more states and municipalities are trying to find an equitable way to tax non-profits so that they pay their fair share to their community. Whether via property taxes or income taxes, there are ways to do it that should be acceptable and do-able, especially for entities that receive payments for use of facilities or services rendered. (i.e. the payer is getting something tangible in return for their $).
One idea being bandied about is nonprofits whose executives make over a certain amount would be liable for taxes, another is that entities that own large real estate holdings would be liable for infrastructure updating and the like. (PILOT programs - Payment In Lieu of Taxes ... Perhaps the observatory already pays into a PILOT program.)
Googling "taxing nonprofits" gives many results. Here's a few that show how it's an effort backed by both Democrats and Republicans: https://www.bostonglobe.com/business/201...story.html And this one on Princeton: http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/shor...onprofits/ (Not that Mauna Kea has the big bucks/endowments Princeton does). This one compares the states and points out in the end that there are benefits to not taxing nonprofits (e.g., their contributions to the community save local funds): http://www.pewtrusts.org/en/research-and...-pay-taxes
It's not a simple problem, but I agree with randomq that it can easily get convoluted and abused. It already is.
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DT,
Happy to respond, but first I'd like some clarification of the following:
"Whether via property taxes or income taxes, there are ways to do it that should be acceptable and do-able, especially for entities that receive payments for use of facilities or services rendered. (i.e. the payer is getting something tangible in return for their $)."
It's not exactly clear to me what you are saying here, so don't want to respond until I'm a little clearer on that point. Thanks!
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