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The point is that religious institutions like the Catholic Church, in exchange for their charity status are, at least in principle, supposed to be apolitical an

by retrac 5y ago

The point is that religious institutions like the Catholic Church, in exchange for their charity status are, at least in principle, supposed to be apolitical and not get involved in electoral politics. The Pope did not endorse Biden, for example. Remove tax-free status and that's no longer required. You could have priests giving their parishioners strong 'advice' on how to vote for every name on the ballot. (Not that that doesn't happen to some degree already in practice...)

cratermoon 5y ago
> You could have priests giving their parishioners strong 'advice' on how to vote for every name on the ballot. (Not that that doesn't happen to some degree already in practice...) Tax them and the priests won't work around the margins any more, they'll straight up hand out partisan voter guides and send their parishioners to work on political campaigns in the church bus, using church funds. With Citizens United in play, the Catholic Church could funnel huge sums to candidates and issues of their choice, openly. Politicians friendly to church issues will stand in the pulpits and give stump speeches.
beerandt 5y ago
This is a good example of the line being skirted, with the Church (not sure if it came straight from the pope) saying not to vote on a single issue, but consider all issues. Which in this case meant: it's ok with us if you don't vote pro-life. Wink wink.
dragonwriter 5y ago
> You could have priests giving their parishioners strong 'advice' on how to vote for every name on the ballot. None of the Holy See, State of Vatican City, or Diocese of Rome are US 501(c)3 orgs, so I’m not sure why you think that the tax exemption rules applicable to US charities have any bearing on that decision. The Pope had plenty of reasons not to endorse a particular candidate (the ones that are diplomatic and based in Catholic theological distinction between moral and prudential decisions and the role of the Church heirarchy in each being applicable across nations and particular elections.)
- cratermoon 5y ago
  At the level of the Pope, the College of Cardinals, and the Roman Curia, the church is more like a sovereign state. They tend to follow the conventions of Westphalian sovereignty, and stay out of the business of other sovereign states.

by retrac 5y ago

cratermoon 5y ago

> You could have priests giving their parishioners strong 'advice' on how to vote for every name on the ballot. (Not that that doesn't happen to some degree already in practice...) Tax them and the priests won't work around the margins any more, they'll straight up hand out partisan voter guides and send their parishioners to work on political campaigns in the church bus, using church funds. With Citizens United in play, the Catholic Church could funnel huge sums to candidates and issues of their choice, openly. Politicians friendly to church issues will stand in the pulpits and give stump speeches.

beerandt 5y ago

This is a good example of the line being skirted, with the Church (not sure if it came straight from the pope) saying not to vote on a single issue, but consider all issues. Which in this case meant: it's ok with us if you don't vote pro-life. Wink wink.

dragonwriter 5y ago

> You could have priests giving their parishioners strong 'advice' on how to vote for every name on the ballot. None of the Holy See, State of Vatican City, or Diocese of Rome are US 501(c)3 orgs, so I’m not sure why you think that the tax exemption rules applicable to US charities have any bearing on that decision. The Pope had plenty of reasons not to endorse a particular candidate (the ones that are diplomatic and based in Catholic theological distinction between moral and prudential decisions and the role of the Church heirarchy in each being applicable across nations and particular elections.)

cratermoon 5y ago
At the level of the Pope, the College of Cardinals, and the Roman Curia, the church is more like a sovereign state. They tend to follow the conventions of Westphalian sovereignty, and stay out of the business of other sovereign states.