Why should religions be tax exempt?

Right from the start religions were money-making enterprises – if not fortune builders then at least a way for shamans, prophets and priests to avoid doing hard work – and it’s high time that governments examined their tax-exempt status.

Whenever there are vested interests, it is natural that business needs to be drummed up and patronage needs to be entrenched. It's basic marketing skills. However, in an industry such as religion, this becomes a problem because there is something immoral about inciting fear and promoting ignorance for the sake of making money or keeping one's job – and wangling tax exemption as well!

Because fear is a basic human instinct and the ancient world was a fearful place, it is obvious that ancient religions developed from a real need and performed beneficial services - such as those performed by Shamans - but there came a stage at which religions dropped spiritual guidance in favour of manipulative money-grubbing, promising wealth and mundane joys for their services. This stage, of course, was reached when civilizations were established and more people had money to spare.

Any religion that requires priests, temples and rites is a money-making industry and as such provides jobs not only for priests but also for manufacturers of idols and their traders - such as Abraham's father, Terah.

Even the prophets, like Jesus, who lived simple lives and preached against the love of money, earned their living - their food, clothes and accommodation - from those who came to listen to them.

However, religious services - the rites and the burnt offerings - were the domain of the rich who could afford them, not the poor who could not pay.

The great teachings of the Jewish Prophets - especially Jesus - were against these practices. The people most in need, the poor, were being ignored by those they relied upon to help them.

One of the memorable stories in the life of Jesus was his rampage at the Temple, overturning the tables of the money-lenders. A place of worship was not to be defiled with money and mundane aspirations, but after his death even the humble religion he founded became similarly tainted.

Preaching is a job, a way of earning a living, and while nobody begrudges any minister his dues, those religions that stoop to the lowest means imaginable in order to increase their wealth - and build bigger and better churches - through exploiting converts and robbing them of a tenth of their income, by a system of 'tithing', are to be deplored.

In today's world, there are many converts who became exhausted and penniless and nearly lost their mind in reverence of their religion - even to the point of swallowing poison in order to please their religious leaders - and this sort of hysterical behaviour was even worse in the ancient world.

Basically, religions can't operate without money, and the practice of tithing - giving ten percent of one's earnings to the church - on top of being manipulated into buying church merchandise and giving freely of one's time and expertise to help build or maintain church property - runs parallel to civil government practices.

In the time of Jesus, as well as in modern times, heavy civil taxes were imposed leaving many in abject poverty. After paying government taxes and church tithes, what is left to live on, support a family and save for old age?

Why are citizens taxed by the state, but religions are not?

Jesus won followers by love, healing and living a simple life provided for by his converts, and this type of true Christianity died out when the disciples died. From the middle of the first century until the Roman Emperor Constantine embraced Christianity in 313 - and promoted it as a state religion, a way to retain Roman power over the provinces - the humble faith of Jesus had already undergone radical changes and many more changes were to come.

The worst of these changes was the practice of 'indulgences' where huge sums of money were extracted from 'sinners' in payment for forgiveness and a place in heaven.

What passes for Christianity today in the mainstream, as well as the breakaway sects, is mostly a travesty of what Jesus preached.

There's a huge difference between faith and religion. Everyone needs a faith, but nobody needs a religion except for those who profit from it.

Removing tax exemption from religions won’t affect faith, but it will definitely affect those who use religion to abuse the faithful for profit.