Florida goes completely fruitcake.

[elfs]

The Wiccan Religious Cooperative of Florida has filed a lawsuit against the state, claiming that the state's sales tax exemption for Bibles and other religious publications is unconstitutional. The basis for the suit is that Christian bookstores are routinely granted waivers from the state, but New Age bookstores and specifically LeVay's The Satanic Bible have never received similar exemptions.

Religious Right organizations have filed various amicus curiae with the court because, naturally, they want to reserve special rights to their religion and grant it priveleges not granted others. As the head of the state's Christian Coalition put it, "I don't see any comparison between scripture and some metaphysical nonsense."

Even more alarming is the president of the Liberty Council, who warned the Wiccans not to take their case to the Supreme Court: "In case the Wiccans haven't realized it, if they haven't been watching the news, the court has changed. We have a new day, and certainly this Supreme Court is not going to look with enthusiasm when it comes to taxing religion."

But this isn't about taxing religion: this is about treating all religious organizations equally, about not one being granted a special privilege denied to others.

It's pure tribal politics, and it needs to be shoved into their faces: No Special Rights For Christians. If they want to scream that fair housing and employment for gays and lesbians is a "special right," then they should be made as uncomfortable as possible when they beg for exemptions from the law.

Hat tip to the ever-observant Ed Brayton. You might also wince at the original Liberty Council article.

Comments

[mothball-07.livejournal.com]

It seems pretty simple to me. They're taxed at the same rates any other business would be taxed at... no special status. Those issues have already been (theoretically) handled for business.

The other option would be to eliminate taxes entirely, but that's a much more radical idea.

[kengr]

Not all "businesses" are taxed. So-called "non-profit" groups don't get taxed as long as they obey the rules.

Having been the treasurer for a branch of one sort, I'm *way* too familiar with the rules for some sorts and parttially familiar with thoise for the other types.

As I recall, religious and charitable organizations fall under the same category. The other two types are "educational", and "social/fraternal".

There are reasons for not taxing those sorts of groups asa well. And there really are restrictions on what can and can't be done without losing the tax-exempt status.

On the whole, I think abolishing the various sort of "non-profit" groups would probably not be a good idea. But I can see simplifying the rules a bit and enforcing them better.