@rainerann
Section 508(c) of the Internal Revenue Code provides that churches are not required to apply for recognition of Section 501(c)(3) status in order to be exempt from federal taxation or to receive tax deductible contributions. Churches are automatically exempt from Federal income tax, and contributions to churches are deductible by donors under section 170.
I don't have time to find all the documents and put everything together, so here are some links if you want to look into it yourself.
Disclaimer: I don't agree with every conclusion made on these websites and I'm not trying to convince you that 501c3 churches are from the devil (even though one of the sites below is). Just wanting to give you something to think about in terms of seperation of Church and state and the general direction our country appears to be heading with regard to that.
http://www.churchfreedom.org/usc-26-§-508c1a/
https://comingintheclouds.org/christian-resources/church/unbiblical-incorporation/
https://www.jesus-is-savior.com/Evils in Government/Police State/501c3_unbiblical.htm
http://hushmoney.org/501c3-problems.htm\
http://www.creationliberty.com/articles/501c3.php
So I do remember hearing about the 501c3 thing years ago. There were a couple conversations about it in my church by some of the older members. This is almost 20 years ago, so I haven't really thought about it in a while. They were talking about the possibility of losing their 501c3 tax exemption based on what they said in sermons. I had integrated this possibility in my earliest study of prophecy about the covenant that is broken considering that the beast will violate a provision he has given to the church.
It has been so long since this, and no one really talks about this as much, I haven't even thought about it in a while.
http://www.churchfreedom.org/usc-26-§-508c1a/
I thought this site was very clear about the difference between the 501 and the 508, but what I was really looking for was something that would indicate that a pastor was required to serve FEMA and provide disaster counseling because of this. I still can't find something like this.
https://comingintheclouds.org/christian-resources/church/unbiblical-incorporation/
I'm pretty sure it was this site that does a good job explaining why we don't need the 501c3 because a church does not function in the same way a nonprofit does. A church is not established for the sole purpose of providing charity which is what the tax exemption is for. However, this one was a little excessive in the language it used to describe the place a church holds under 501, in my opinion. However, I know you weren't endorsing them.
I still couldn't find how they could require someone to serve FEMA according to this tax exemption.
https://www.jesus-is-savior.com/Evils in Government/Police State/501c3_unbiblical.htm
This was a good breakdown of how the tax exemption was integrated into church culture not that long ago. Still, don't see how this requires FEMA service or how it influences the church or tells the church what they can and cannot say. That doesn't mean that it doesn't, but it is speculative and doesn't seem to be written in the law. Those pastors may be training by choice.
What could likely happen as taxes continue to make the state increase in size and continue impoverishing our communities, is that at some point the church will not be able to independently support itself. When a church has to find ways to receive funding for itself through the government, the government will automatically be able to control the church.
This is the same process that happens with charitable organizations that are 501c3. There are even legal cases about this. I remember one in particular from a political science class years ago about a Catholic hospital that was ax exempt, but receiving money from the state to operate. The conclusion was that depending on the amount of money the hospital received would determine whether they were required to follow state guidelines as opposed to their own independent guidelines.
Now, since there isn't one hospital that can function without receiving money from the state, they are all state hospitals basically. Our country has a history of independently run Catholic hospitals though, that didn't have to follow state guidelines. I think many people take for granted that we have so many hospitals named after saints. This is because they were founded by the Catholic church and at one point created their own culture because of this.
I do see this as a possibility, but they would have to impoverish our country a little more before the church started looking to the state for money to operate. The person who pays for it gets to make the rules basically. It really does look like a sleeper statute from the information on the websites. Although, if you do have anything more specific about why this would legitimizes drafting pastors into service to FEMA, I would appreciate it.
I will look into these websites. In general, I think tax laws exceed the authority the state should be permitted to have and the state should not be able to tax people by force. Removing tax law would reduce the size of government and this would effectively control the authority the state is permitted to have. Thanks for sharing.
