As much as they want, apparently. The reason they have tax exempt status is specifically to keep them out of politics and to keep the government from trying to control doctrine. Which is why religions/churches that do not engage in such dishonorable behavior need to team up with John Q Public and file suit to have the tax exempt status of the churches that break the rules removed.
They've had it both ways for entirely too long and there should be a stop put to it ASAP. Don't even get me started about how "corporations are people, too!" or "capital gains aren't income!" because that's a bunch of crap just as much as the tax free status of politically active churches is a bunch of crap. My ONLY income the past year was capital gains and I ain't hurtin'.
I'm also paying almost nothing in income taxes *because* it was all capital gains. Does that sound right to you? It doesn't to me and it doesn't to a few of the Big Boys like Warren Buffet.
The US tax laws need to be entirely rewritten. As they stand now they benefit the wealthy (individuals, churches and corporations) and shaft pretty much everyone else. That's kind of messed up.
Rhetoric is an art. Well done. How can it be in the first place that such a question need be asked?
Are things this bad? Yes.
I cant really gove you an answer,but what I can give you is a way to a solution, that is you have to find the anglde that you relate to or peaks your interest. A good paper is one that people get drawn into because it reaches them ln some way.As for me WW11 to me, I think of the holocaust and the effect it had on the survivors, their families and those who stood by and did nothing until it was too late.