Arguably, there are systems that are far older than any system of government that we now know. Religion had been a thing before mankind knew the difference between our right and left hands. To dive into this topic, I kept thinking of ways to present might points without my argument showing any signs of me being a believer or in a way that makes me look like an unbeliever. So I decided, I discuss this as a scholar defining a concept because that is the only way I can speak my mind without sounding bias.
Should places of worship be taxed? The existence of every worship center regardless of which religion it is meant for, such places are considered to be sacred. A place of worship is where believers gather to restore their faith, pray if needed and show appreciation to God. I must admit, in a country like mine, we have more worship centers than hospitals, we are a bunch of hyper religious citizens in my country. And every worship center definitely generate funds, funds expected to be sacred too.
To apply taxation to worship places means, it is no longer considered as a sacred place but as a firm or company that generate funds. This will definitely generate mixed feelings among worshipers because their perspective of whatever money a worship place is generating is not the same as what other firms are generating. To believers, a worship place is like a nonprofit organization not business related.
So when worship places are asked to pay tax, it is like saying "Hey come and pay tax based on the profit you are making" despite the fact that the money raised is not considered as income. Believers donate in all manner of ways to their place of worship, believing it is their duty to God. And there are people who serve as intermediary between them and the God they serve. These people are called many names based on their religion but the moment a place of worship is considered taxable, then those people become managers, CEO just like every other firm.
Which means their intention regarding whatever money they make becomes solely for profit. This is something that would never sit well with religious bodies. There are thousands of ways this can go wrong, the issue is not tax but the way it changes the purpose of worship places. Considering the rate at which some worship centers are currently facing backslash, people beginning to doubt their faith and the mission, this will just serve as a justification.
Will it affect worship experience? I can't say for sure but I definitely know it will change the way people perceive worship places. A place that is considered sacred will now be considered as a business enterprise, which means anyone can decide to build a worship center with the mindset of making money, won't that make the concept of religion a joke. And I know how believers and religious bodies react when they sense any form of blasphemy. I don't even need to get into details but we all know how rough religion related riot or protest turn out.
This write-up was inspired by weekly featured content titled Taxes in hive learners community.
All images were generated using chatgpt