And I never said this applied to all churches but it does then go back to the central question of this thread: why do churches automatically receive tax exempti

And I never said this applied to all churches but it does then go back to the central question of this thread: why do churches automatically receive tax exemptions? When it's not provable they're necessarily acting charitably? The crusades are no longer a thing, but lobbying has arguable replaced it with churches able to do much the same with the vast amounts of money that some of them have earned. Similarly missions and other forms of preying on vulnerable people is still a thing. Conversion therapy and forced compliance to church norms are still a thing. Just because it's not a literal war, doesn't mean it's not achieving the same things. Besides the point of mentioning the crusades was to point out that oppression powered by the churches is nothing new. It's been a staple of competing views since time eternal, whether in churches or not, but because churches get a free pass, they can greatly amplify oppression as much as they could mitigate it. It's just that you historically and today see much more in the form of oppression than fighting oppression. And that goes back to churches being able to amass unchecked power and financials by which they can fight anything they perceive as a threat to their model. Just like any other political entity.