It’s an unfortunate reality that there are always groups and individuals who will exploit any crisis for profit, or to further an otherwise unconstitutional agenda. Nowhere is the exploitation of our current deadly pandemic more egregious than in Republican lawmakers enabling churches and religious organizations to access “business” loans through the coronavirus stimulus bill. All that’s required to qualify is to have fewer than five hundred employees in a single location. Countless “ministries” will qualify, even though they may simply be smaller parts that make up much larger – and often vastly wealthy – church organizations.
This inclusion actually violates the Small Business Administration’s bylaws (charged with administering these loans), which state that no organization “principally engaged in teaching, instructing, counseling or indoctrinating religion or religious beliefs, whether in a religious or secular setting” will be eligible for loans through the SBA.
Aside from being an obvious violation of the Establishment Clause which prohibits the promotion and funding of religion by government (a prohibition the Founders themselves strictly observed), the question arises that if churches are “businesses”, why aren’t they required to pay taxes like every other business? The U.S. economy could certainly use the estimated $71 billion a year it’s being deprived of to accommodate church tax exemptions.
And why aren’t churches subject to the same transparency obligations that other businesses must adhere to? If these loans are used to pay pastor’s salaries and “overhead”, why aren’t churches required to make those salaries and expenditures public?
No one should be compelled to financially support a religion they don’t observe, or – in fact – any religion at all. Every dollar being diverted to what many affected taxpayers consider the maintenance of primitive superstition and/or a money-making con is a dollar that is not being received by families, individuals, and businesses that actually contribute to the practical functioning of society.
It’s also a sure bet that some number of these religious organizations will use this money to discriminate against groups of taxpayers who are being forced to finance those discriminatory activities.
Clearly many politicians on the “right” side of the isle can’t be trusted to prioritize the well-being of society over their own backward prejudices and beliefs. Let’s keep that in mind when it comes time to chose their (hopefully Democratic) replacements.
Patrecia Barrett
Green Valley, Arizona
