When the church and the government are too tightly intertwined, religious freedom ceases to exist. They are separate and should remain separate. In the United

When the church and the government are too tightly intertwined, religious freedom ceases to exist. They are separate and should remain separate. In the United States, most Protestant churches are run by tithe (voluntary donation) and are not taxed at all (the Establishment Clause) or are paid as mandatory fee directly to the synagogue or local congregation. Most Protestant churches in the U.S. have seen declining membership and tithing, but that is not the fault of the government, and church tax is precisely the opposite of what Jesus and Paul laid out, as well as the allocation of tithes in Malachi. In neither case should or can the government get involved. Most churches in the U.S. are not megachurches. Most are much smaller. The abuses of a few shouldn't taint the whole concept.