A letter from "faith leaders" is not a position of any church. It is a media position purported in this way to bamboozle Christians into going along with it.
I share your agreement that DeSantis is doing the right thing here, but your vitriol is deeply misplaced. We should instead seek to reform churches and reestablish their role as the wards of charity and altruistic work.
The government by comparison, is an ill fit for this role. Enforced charity through taxation isn't just soulless and dubious, it is invitation to corruption by creating a cottage industry based on altruism. People enter these industries motivated not by charity, but by a paycheck. Administrators of these industries are motivated not by human gain, but by self-aggrandizement and expansion of same through lobbying.
Your assertion to "tax churches" is literally the worst position, because it discourages the churches from engaging in charity and instead forces them to commoditize and itemize their taxes down to their constituents. This comes at the cost of any work they would do that isn't motivated by greed or the need to be solvent. You are advocating, then, for governments to de-enlist churches and take over charity for themselves as the rightful arbiters of wealth and success. This is the leftist position, and it begs why you are against the "faith leaders" in this article, since that is what they are asking for too.
This is also how I know these advocates your local NBC affiliate beat the bushes to find are full of crap: they WANT to be taxed to support government run shelters, instead of being excited to meet this need themselves directly. They place the state higher than their own faith and altruistic mandate.
This is the game "WPTV 5" are playing, and you are allowing your anger to sway you, inadvertently, into their desired position.
A letter from "faith leaders" is not a position of any church. It is a media position purported in this way to bamboozle Christians into going along with it.
I share your agreement that DeSantis is doing the right thing here, but your vitriol is deeply misplaced. We should instead seek to reform churches and reestablish their role as the wards of charity and altruistic work.
The government by comparison, is an ill fit for this role. Enforced charity through taxation isn't just soulless and dubious, it is invitation to corruption by creating a cottage industry based on altruism. People enter these industries motivated not by charity, but by a paycheck. Administrators of these industries are motivated not by human gain, but by self-aggrandizement and expansion of same through lobbying.
Your assertion to "tax churches" is literally the worst position, because it discourages the churches from engaging in charity and instead forces them to commoditize and itemize their taxes down to their constituents. This comes at the cost of any work they would do that isn't motivated by greed or the need to be solvent. You are advocating, then, for governments to de-enlist churches and take over charity for themselves as the rightful arbiters of wealth and success. This is the leftist position, and it begs why you are against the "faith leaders" in this article, since that is what they are asking for too.
This is also how I know these advocates your local NBC affiliate beat the bushes to find are full of crap: they WANT to be taxed to support government run shelters, instead of being excited to meet this need themselves directly. They place the state higher than their own faith and altruistic mandate.
This is the game "WPTV 5" are playing, and you are allowing your anger to sway you, inadvertently, into their desired position.
This letter is VERY MUCH an official communication between religion and government. Industrialized religion is a scam and it has always been.