A fair start to leveling the playing field would be to eliminate the tax exempt status of any organization that participates in
political persuasion such as contributing financial and non financial support to a political party. a similar federal law in the US has succeeded in eliminating the creation "charitable" non-profit organizations that were nothing but a ruse for supporting candidates or parties.
However the US has not succeeded in eliminating the tax exempt status of the huge 7th Day Adventists corporate farming enterprises much to the dismay of competing farmers.

I agree with Bruce as to what should be done, but with its vote swaying ability, the church is one of the most powerful lobby groups in the world and is unlikely to allow change to occur.

Quite a rant.

Maybe the churches aren't emptying quite as fast you think. The denomination I belong to after declining in Church attendance thro' the 1980's and 1990's, began to increase after 2000.

Get over it, churches are not going to disappear any time soon, nor are the mosques and temples of other faiths.

Governments put mony in the way of churches because churches are prepared to get out and do work no other groups do: run soup kitchens, help the victims of abortions, visit the sick and elderly in hospitals, do chaplaincy work in schools, start up new schools, run shelters for the homeless, establish and run aged care facilities on a not for profit basis. And not just Government money, their own as well.

Red Cross, World Vision and a host of big name charities were all started by Christians.

In the past the christian churches have been able to overstate their political influence with voters and it's still a big deal announcement when one church leader or another endorses one candidate or the other in the lead up to elections.

This influence will erode as research continues to find that Australians are less religious than generally thought and getting less religious all the time. We also know that the big denominations are bleeding support to splinter groups and sects which decentralises power and in some cases produces dangerous groups.

With commerce as their last remaining sphere of influence they do have power, but not the kind that translates to power at the ballot box or the kind that directs people's lives.

A good article, but there are still far too many believers in a "sky daddy" of some sort for reform any time soon. Our culture and traditions in Australia are also so entangled with our Judeo-Christian origins that a truly secular approach to Government is very unlikely.

Also, remember old Niccolo M “There is nothing more difficult to take in hand, more perilous to conduct, or more uncertain in its success, than to take the lead in the introduction of a new order of things......the innovator has for enemies all those who have done well under the old conditions, and lukewarm defenders in those who may do well under the new".

Perhaps the answer is the creation of lots of new cults, all claiming religious privileges. This might force the hand of Government if too much revenue were threatened. After all, the only difference between a cult and a religion is the number of believers.

IMHO spiritual development is an individual thing, not dependent on an hierarchical organisation. The public interest grounds for supporting church organisations is highly debatable.

Good article with good points Alan.
The church is very political and that is right wing supporting every war coupled with their blessing including sending off their own congrgational members to the slaughter. The church is not naive or stupid, their organizations too have long arms in intelligence circles that know the nature and predatory character of these wars. Wars are about making super profits, grabbing new resources and new territories to plunder and colonise. As well as strengthening the enslavement of the worlds people. Let us not forget how the the Pope did a filthy deal to get the Vatican state by supporting and blessing the fascist dictators Mussolini and Hitler in their quest for war and to reorganise Europe in their favour. There are plenty of priests in South America who have given their allegience and blessing to every muderous and torturous dictator and rightwing death squads. Today the church is an arm of the super rich and that is precisely why none of them get up in parliament and fight and defend workers or the poor. That aspect can be extended to every state and country globally that the church are arm raisers for the rich in parliament. Every morning in the White House Bush and his political cohorts huddle in prayer praying their bombs will be accurate, even after a million Iraqis have been slaughtered and 4 to 5 million turned into homeless refugees. All so that the US can dominate and steal the oil in the Middle East on behalf of the oil/petrol conglomerates. The main role the church plays is to promote "a better life in the hereafter" or "put your head in the sand and pray" "and never challenge the idle rich". Or "mankind has a bad heart" therefor you cannot fight for a better world or the world's resources belong to all and should be shared by all.

David Palmer says "Governments put money in the way of churches because churches are prepared to get out and do work no other groups do..." And then he lists a range of social welfare services.

First of all, secular non-for-profits and government enterprises also carry out such work. Local councils deliver HACC services for older people and people with disabilities, ACON and Bobby Goldsmith Foundation in NSW deliver services for people with HIV/AIDS, the Gay and Lesbian Counselling Service is self-explanatory, the Public Interest Advocacy Centre has a project giving legal advice to homeless people, the Department of Ageing, Disability and Home Care in NSW is a service provider as is Legal Aid NSW. There are non-religious community transport organisations, women's refuges and services for young gay people.

I could go on but to say that no other group is prepared to undertake the work church organisations do is patently wrong.

The problem often is to do with whether the money is well spent - but secular organisations are not the only ones that can maladminster money. And also, as I've said elsewhere, to whinge about being persecuted is not something wealthy church organisations can really do credibly in this country. To do so would reveal an ignorance about genuine persecution.

You are right about one thing, David Palmer.

>>Red Cross, World Vision and a host of big name charities were all started by Christians<<

But you entirely miss the point, that these organizations, like the churches, are also simply businesses, and as such should be held to the same rules as all other businesses.

World Vision is a classic, by the way. Their CEO, St. Tim Costello, in 2007 took out a salary package of over $250k, a 30% increase over the previous year. Their top four "key executives" extracted over $800k between them.

They are not in the "charity" business, they simply collect and disburse monies, extracting a service fee along the way.

>> In 2004, the Vatican launched a global diplomatic campaign for the recognition of Christianphobia. ... Churches need to understand that the demands for accountability and transparency, taxation reform, and for an Australian Charities Commission, will continue, and it will be futile campaign to label such demands as Christianphobia.<<

Could the author please provide an exact quote where "the Vatican" labelled "demands for accountability and transparency, taxation reform, and for an Australian Charities Commission" as Christianphobia?

Ok. Where do we start. Before I do I will acknowledge I believe in god but I am not religious.

Religion is a creation by man. It was introduced to create mass division within the general public. Fortunately we are not a highly religious country compared to others but this would be changing as we bring in more migration from countries where religion is considered more important. So we are going to have religious groups continue to become more powerful influences to our country which is unfortunate but true. Look at the situation in america at the moment and you will see how good 'faith' can be abused. along with president bush announcing his 'crusade' before invading islamic countries. bush was elected due to the powerful influence of his religious background and then within 12 months raged war against a different religion. Its only a matter of time before religion wreaks more havic here. I recall K Rudd announcing his religious background before the election. Maybe it helped? But that was the first time a political leader within Australia has done that.

Anyway, since we are talking tax. Its great to know I can pay tax through the nose (i estimate 70% of my earnings go to some sort of tax) whilst these dangerous groups can pay zero tax, in turn becomming large comgolmerates and end up running the country behind the scenes. But australians all let us rejoice, cause we are young and free.

I could keep going about all this but people will think im a psycho as they are not prepared for the real truth of what is happening in this world

Peracles,

In Cash We Trust.

I recall seeing on American CCN an American preacher complaining about being downtrodden and, the interviewer pointing out the good Reverend was wearing a Rolex. Likewise, I wonder how many non Seventh Day Adventists are hired by Sanitarium, which, incidently, has tax free status.

Side bar: http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2008/07/07/1215282750977.html

"If" the Cardinal is found to have covered-up a heinous crime, he should face a jury.

That said, there would have been people in history whom made great life-time sacrafices to help their fellow persons. Of these people, some, not all, will have been theists. At least theist acting in accordance with their espoused convictions.

Cheers,

O.

Thanks for a most informative article.

When Australia was a Christian country it may have been appropriate that the denominations were funded by the state.(Although I have some doubts about that.)
But as we are becoming progressively a secular democracy which has a multi-cultural make-up we cannot keep on funding Christian denominations ONLY.Tax payers now belong to diverse faiths and they have every right to object if their demands for state funding are turned down.
The times they are a-changing...forever!

socratease

Given the fact that I am not an Australian, I am not privy to all the details of this issue in your country.
Does the Australian government also give financial support to non-Christian religious organizations . . . Muslim and Hindu, for example?
Does not giving taxpayer financial support to ANY allegedly non-profit religious organization create a sense of entitlement, and encourage complacency over its own private fund-raising efforts?
What do you think of simply prohibiting ANY public funding of religious organizations, as well as prohibiting any non-profit tax- exempt status for the COMMERCIAL enterprises and properties that are owned and run by religious organizations? Why not give tax-exempt status ONLY to the HOUSES of WORSHIP themselves, THEIR direct fund-raising efforts, and to their religious schools?
Forgive me if I sound as if I am "butting in" to Australian concerns. It was just a thought. What is the general opinion in Australia about these ideas?

"Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's and unto God the things that are God's" says the Bible.

Right. So render up prayers and such offerings as the Church needs to survive and pay your taxes to Caesar( governments)...so too should the Church and all who run the churches...or temples, synagogues and mosques whatever...to whom the saying applies equally.
The businesses and land and properties should all be assessed by auditors and taxed accordingly.

socratease