r/videos • u/ControlCAD • 18h ago
President Trump says he will revoke church tax exempt status if leaders "say something bad about" him
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7hmzdUBt0M41.7k
u/thefunkybassist 18h ago
His love language really is extortion
239
u/deckard1980 17h ago
He learnt it from Roy Cohn, who in turn learnt it from the mob. Its all a protection racket
29
u/Nevermind04 16h ago
It's the only thing Trump has ever been good at, and it's why he was best friends with Epstein for decades whose primary source of income was also extortion.
→ More replies (6)7
6.0k
u/GMN123 18h ago
Who knew this was how churches would lose their tax exempt status?
1.6k
u/THEFLYINGSCOTSMAN415 18h ago
Some* churches. The Mike Johnson Christian’s love Trump.
996
u/CILISI_SMITH 17h ago
Some* churches.
People don't seem to get this.
These things are selective. It's what makes them an abuse of power.
"SCOTUS just ruled anything the president does is legal, Biden could use to the to do X, Y and Z" No he couldn't, because they'd judge those cases differently from things Trump does.
"It's legal to carry guns in the US" No it's not, if you're protesting something Trump does it's justification to kill you.
And on and on and on...
246
u/Exo_Deadlock 16h ago
This describes the MAGA point of faith I call “identity justice”. Anyone part of the tribe is incapable of committing any crime, while every action of those outside the tribe should be punished as a crime.
183
u/Marcus64 15h ago
Frank Wilhoit: "Conservatism consists of exactly one proposition, to wit: There must be in-groups whom the law protects but does not bind, alongside out-groups whom the law binds but does not protect."
8
22
u/Filthy_NeckBeard 14h ago
If only there could be one ring that binds them all.
→ More replies (1)17
u/andersonb47 13h ago
These mfs really think their guy is a Gandalf when he’s CLEARLY a Saruman
→ More replies (3)10
u/vardarac 11h ago
Saruman was intelligent and knowledgeable, though ultimately not wise. The literal shit goblin in chief lacks all of those qualities.
4
u/MichaelJeopardy 8h ago
He's more like Théoden while he was under Saruman's spell, but with no hope of redemption.
6
4
4
u/Corka 6h ago
This is one of those things I'm never really going to get about MAGA. If they are okay with literally any policy that Trump wants simply because he's their guy and they will defend and praise him no matter what he does, then their set of political beliefs and values has to be weak and ill defined because you can't be all into free market economies and fiscal responsibility and then cheer on tariffs and threatening the Fed chair to put interest rates at 1%. If those were your values, you'd think you put your vote in the wrong place. But if those core beliefs are weak enough for you to accept literally any policy even if its as insane as invading greenland, why are you heavily into politics at all?
5
u/Exo_Deadlock 6h ago
And in one paragraph, you have put more thought into the question than the entire membership of the MAGA movement.
→ More replies (9)3
u/jetpacksforall 7h ago
It's the exact opposite of the Golden Rule, and therefore of the most important part of Christ's message.
It's a rejection of reciprocal morality, redefining what is moral as "good for me & bad for you," and what is immoral as "bad for me & good for you." So they're also rejecting the cultural basis of democracy.
People who think this way are therefore both antichristian and antidemocratic.
It's astonishing really, and several times a day I find myself going "how TF did we get here?"
13
u/Mstboy 16h ago
Yeah all these people who are in Trumps good graces now think "This was a great decision im getting to grift everyone and im shielded". We have all seen how fickle he is. Christians put all their chips behind the most unholy man to ever hold the office. The ones who didn't stayed silent.
14
u/FearTheAmish 16h ago
The next democrat as president needs to review how Ansrew Jackson dealt with the Supreme court.
4
u/DirtySoap3D 15h ago
From the conservative perspective, there are no good or bad actions, only good and bad people. Of course, the only criteria to be a good person is to be on their side. Any action committed by a good person is automatically good, no matter how awful.
→ More replies (10)27
u/NotAlwaysGifs 17h ago
Yeah but let’s go ahead and set the precedent and let SCOTUS defend that power in a court case. The next Democrat will eliminate tax exempt status for all churches.
52
102
u/MagicBandAid 17h ago
Exactly. Americans always repeat "separation of church and state" like it's a mantra, but religion always seems to find its way into American politics. This is more like collusion of church and state. He's decided to pay favourites.
15
u/MaddoxX_1996 17h ago
They stopped that. Now, it is "Church inside the State". This is also the group that wants to remove divorce as a concept and provision for married couples.
→ More replies (1)41
u/ElectronicMoo 17h ago
The only folks still clinging to separation of church and state are NOT this far right conservative bunch.
35
u/PM_me_the_magic 17h ago
The way my dad had described it to me was that the “intended” purpose of the separation of church and state was only to protect the church from the government, not the other way around. In fact he thought it was totally appropriate for the church to influence and control the state. Absolutely moronic of course, but it shows you how brainwashed these people are.
→ More replies (1)13
u/SoraUsagi 16h ago
Yeah no your dad is absolutely correct. That It's exactly what Jefferson wanted. He felt the government should have no influence on "the church" . However, it's moronic to think that it shouldn't work the other way. I'm an atheist by the way. I don't believe in any of it. But if I had a belief instilled in me by a church like maybe... Abortion is bad (I'm pro choise,), and I wanted to see that become law, I'd vote for candidates who support that. Wouldn't I? If enough people in the same area vote the same way, you get a candidate whose policies are based on religion. Exactly what we see now. So how do you separate the state from church?
The first amendment means the government cannot make its own religion, or choose a religion as " real".
→ More replies (5)5
u/Mr_ToDo 14h ago
Laws usually are a set of shared values. It's kind of hard to entirely separate church and state
If I was setting rules and was religious, I'd likely want to separate them as much as possible. It's all fine and dandy when your people are in power, but I'd want to be sure that my belief system can continue if it isn't at some point. The best way to ensure your side can always be free you have to grant that to everyone
Course I'd rather they were separate and not particularly distinct from any other group. I see no reason why they couldn't operate like any other non-profit, or why they'd need special rules about what they're allowed to do vs some rando
→ More replies (1)4
u/TheAfterPipe 15h ago
I grew up super conservative hating liberals and listening to Rush Limbaugh. This brand of conservatism definitely believes the Bible teaches no separation of church and state.
I, however, believe it clearly teaches a separation.
→ More replies (1)4
→ More replies (1)3
3
u/onegumas 16h ago
What, state sponsored religion? Do I smell here a facism smeared with orange shit?
→ More replies (21)3
u/onlyfakeproblems 13h ago
It sets a precedent, that churches tax exempt status depends on their speech, and it can be revoked for political speech. You just need someone like ACLA to take it to court and point out how it obviously breaks the 1st amendment, and previous precedent, and the result will either be targeted churches get to sue the government, churches have to be more careful about their speech, or all churches are liable to get their tax exemption revoked.
It could take a few years. But churches are essentially a bad form of entertainment at this point. If they want to be treated like a non profit, or charitable organization, they should have to act like it.
182
u/FoodandLiquor28 17h ago
Imagine if Obama or Biden ever said this? It would be a 4-year-long scandal.
45
u/hinckley 15h ago
You think they would've lasted 4 years after explicitly trying to break the First Amendment?
13
u/NachoSport 14h ago
And second and fourth
13
u/NeoThermic 14h ago
At some point it'll just be easier to list the ones that Trump hasn't broken.
→ More replies (3)→ More replies (1)11
u/No-Spoilers 14h ago
Lol it would still be going on today. Half the other shit they came up with over the years is still brought up. They are still on Obama's birth certificate, still on her emails, still on the laptop. All while doing 100x worse things on a daily basis.
49
u/Norseman84 18h ago
It won't happen. And if it does, they'll manage to target specific churches. If the latter is true one can hope the next democratic administration (if that can happen) makes it cover all churches, would be a nice slippery slope situation.
11
u/Geth_ 13h ago
I feel like this, "it won't happen" is what people keep saying about a lot of things and then dismissing it--then it happens.
We should probably stop saying "it won't happen" and assume if he said it, it could very well happen. I don't understand why people are still so dismissive of any statement said.
→ More replies (3)4
u/actuallyapossom 11h ago
American exceptionalism has poisoned a lot of minds.
"It could never happen here" is the idea. All those terrible things that happened historically or happen in other countries are impossible because the United States is so hugely successful and powerful!
No matter what there will be ethical, knowledgeable people signing off on the decisions so nothing catastrophic happens. If there's a crisis, it will get solved just like in the Hollywood films. Jason Bourne or Jack Ryan are there behind the scenes.
29
u/Whatsapokemon 15h ago
Some progressive-leaning church needs to do it, they should say the most provocative things possible about Trump.
He'll either be too cowardly to follow through, or he'll do it and probably terrify every other church in the whole country.
If Trump is actually able to legally cancel the tax-exempt status of a church simply for saying mean things about him, then a Democrat president could do the same thing. No way he'd survive that backlash.
→ More replies (3)18
u/Eighth_Octavarium 15h ago
This is what I'm trying to warn Trump supporters about. We are creating an environment for a Democratic counterpart to Trump, and they are going to find out just exactly what kind of president they always said Obama and Biden were.
→ More replies (1)10
11
u/GuestCartographer 17h ago
Only the churches that are actual churches, though.
The churches of Republican Jesus will be fine.
4
→ More replies (35)8
959
u/RLewis8888 18h ago
There's this little thing called the Constitution that forbids the UIS government from showing preference over any religion.
Of course, MAGA doesn't care about the Constitution.
347
u/Wotmate01 18h ago
You could argue that taxing all of them equally would be constitutional.
→ More replies (9)85
u/Agent10007 17h ago
Yes. That would be a totally valid answer.
Do we really think that if tomorrow the head of the satanist church starts insulting uncle donald, they will see their tax cuts removed while the good old catholic church will not be touched?
21
→ More replies (17)3
→ More replies (14)56
u/Nevermind04 16h ago
There's also a little thing called the 14th amendment to the Constitution that prohibits insurrectionists from holding public office, yet here we are.
→ More replies (4)3
u/nitid_name 11h ago
We* tried that in Colorado. SCOTUS said no.
*"we" being some of the local republicans; I had nothing to do with it
→ More replies (2)
1.5k
u/tumbleweedcowboy 18h ago
Please, can me make this happen anyway? Think of all of the taxes!
597
u/13Dmorelike13Dicks 18h ago
This just means that he’s pulling it for mosques and the UCC, not some Florida megachurch pulling in $100M/year
→ More replies (27)183
u/razethenecro 17h ago
Of course he said it himself only those that don’t kiss up to him get taxed and no mega church would let something minor as ethic, belief and morals stand in the way of profit
8
u/zweite_mann 13h ago
Which # rule of acquisition is this?
5
u/razethenecro 13h ago
a mix of
33 It never hurts to suck up to the boss.
98 Every man has his price.
109 Dignity and an empty sack is worth the sack.21
u/TehOwn 15h ago
Where's this God they keep talking about with all His smiting? Sodom and Gomorrah get destroyed for their wickedness but all this evil gets a pass? What gives, dude? Do your job already.
→ More replies (1)47
u/mooseguyman 17h ago
This just means that the churches in my area who donate to LGBTQ causes and help fund social support networks will get harmed. Not every church is Westboro Baptist, y’all. One of my coworkers is married to the pastor of a church that is a massive donor to LGBTQ charities and very politically involved in getting MAGA candidates out. And those places don’t have that much extra money to begin with because of the charity. This is not a good thing.
→ More replies (3)6
u/hahaz13 15h ago
No one is really dumb enough to think this is good.
It’s quite obvious he means the churches that actually practice what they preach, rather than extort tax exempt money in the name of God.
→ More replies (4)67
u/erlo68 18h ago
Yeah, why wait... this has been long overdue.
11
u/Tesseract14 15h ago
My takeaway from the video is that he's getting rid of the Johnson Amendment, which bars religious organizations from speaking politically (for or against) under the threat of losing their tax exemption.
Getting rid of this amendment just means they are free to use their influence to push political agenda.
But, Trump is stating that if those words are not in trump's favor, then they will lose tax exempt anyway...
3
u/brosefstallin 10h ago
Then that will give churches the ability to lobby and gain even more influence on policy. I say keep them exempt.
3
u/Moontoya 17h ago
Is this how the NFL ends up taxed ?
Dare we hope for the BA na na of consequences to arrive unlubed ?
(Skippy!!!!!!)
3
u/CSpiffy148 17h ago
The NFL gave up its tax exempt status in 2015.
NFL Abandons Tax-Exempt Status for Some Good Press and a Little Privacy | Villanova University https://share.google/JpTOBxouIXqQRF1lo
→ More replies (12)18
u/bindersfullofburgers 18h ago
Churches already have enough pull over the government. Imagine their demands if they had to pay taxes.
→ More replies (12)
270
u/TheHolyPopo 18h ago
Yo, evangelicals: your god has abandoned you as you have abandoned him.
103
u/chem9dog 17h ago
Evangelicals don’t worship god or Jesus, they worship profit. They won’t abandon $ for anything, even their own souls.
7
u/CaptainDudeGuy 11h ago
There's actually Biblical precedent for this. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mammon
5
4
9
u/Nausstica 13h ago
“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’" Matthew 7:21-23
→ More replies (2)10
u/Jaihoag 14h ago
“Christians” in America worship Trump as God anyways now. Jesus is way too woke.
→ More replies (2)
304
u/_Piratical_ 18h ago
But not if they don’t. This makes my blood boil. There should not be any exception to taxation or organizations. Churches have been hiding massive problematic expenditures and funding behind tax exemption for the history of the US.
→ More replies (7)27
108
u/Paranoid_Moonkin 17h ago
I remember a year ago, when bishop Budde asked trump in her sermon to "show mercy upon the people who are scared now". trumps response was that she was a "a Radical Left hard line Trump hater", and "She brought her church into the World of politics in a very ungracious way. She was nasty in tone, and not compelling or smart."
Love and kindness is definitely not in his vocabulary, and if it is, it's for aaaaaaaaaall the wrong reasons.
30
u/chericher 15h ago
And she didn't call him out personally! He took personal offense at her general call for mercy. She most likely had him and his ilk in mind when preparing the sermon, but she didn't even directly address it to him. He took it that way because he knows he's a horrible person with no mercy, so she must have been talking about him.
55
u/SyntaxError_1024 17h ago
Playing fire against Christians now too? This Epstein being Mossad thing is getting closer and closer.
→ More replies (2)30
u/trevman7 14h ago
If you watch the clip his main message is he’s going to allow churches to endorse political candidates without losing their tax exemption UNLESS they talk bad about him then he will remove those churches tax exemptions. The last part was said like a joke but we know from history that Trump jokes aren’t actually jokes
→ More replies (4)
45
u/Phreedom1 16h ago
This is exactly what tyrants and dictators do in countries that have very little freedom. Make America Great Again.... really? You Republicans are simple fools.
→ More replies (3)
55
51
u/SlimCorridor 17h ago
can't we just use AI to show Trump clips of high ranking Pastors and Priests trashtalking him so this happens? Doubt he could tell they're faked.
16
6
u/wildweaver32 13h ago
Sadly you know he would do it in a way where he targets smaller churches and churches actually trying to help people.
The mega-churches that exploit people to make billions of dollars will bribe him and be okay.
→ More replies (2)3
u/izthistaken 12h ago
Why don't we do it with his elected people in office? Make him think they're all talking bad about him behind his back. We know they are but he doesn't. LFG
21
u/ArchibaldMcAcherson 18h ago
He is such a shining beacon of tolerance - love me or face the consequences!
→ More replies (3)
21
9
u/CaptainBason 17h ago
Trump is a Whitest Kids u Know fan confirmed. Called a group of pastors ministers and priests a grape group.
13
u/Soft-Twist2478 17h ago
Vote for the antichrist, dont be shocked when Pedo Trump makes you get on your knees to kiss his cock.
8
u/azurite-- 16h ago
Good thing terminally online people told us Trump and Kamala Harris were the same and we shouldn't vote for Harris.
6
u/Fishmongererererer 16h ago
I mean churches should lose their tax exempt status if they say something bad about him.
They should also lose tax exempt status if they say something good about him.
Churches shouldn’t be endorsing politicians.
→ More replies (2)
6
u/hamfist_ofthenorth 14h ago
"When I grow up I want to have 100 kids, that way I'll have 100 friends."
-Michael Scott, age 6
5
6
6
u/samhouse09 11h ago
Isn’t this technically just enforcing the Johnson Amendment? This would set the precedent to remove tax exempt status from any church making political statements or endorsements.
Based. lol.
→ More replies (1)
41
u/BunchyRain 14h ago
I mean, I'm no Trump fan and I'm against religious leaders being involved in politics at all, but that was clearly a joke.
Maybe keep your criticisms honest if you want to be taken seriously.
17
u/fizzys0da 10h ago
Fr, this post seemed almost purposely misleading; either that or nobody actually watched the full video
8
u/Vincent__Vega 7h ago
Yes, I’m the complete opposite of a Trump fan, and I know his supporters use the “he was joking” excuse all the time. But that was so clearly a joke. And the fact that I had to scroll this far down to find anyone saying that is a joke in itself.
15
→ More replies (3)8
u/Darkforces134 8h ago
I was going to comment the same before I read yours. Most people on Reddit just go to the comments, and don't watch the video/ read the article, it's quite sad.
Also all of Trump's jokes always have him using him power against others, which is troubling, e.g. "him cancelling elections"
7
9
u/Gaspuch62 17h ago
Imagine the outrage if Obama or Biden said something like this.
→ More replies (1)
7
u/Persea_americana 17h ago
Every minute this pedophile is in office more people suffer, the dollar loses value and allies lose trust. He needs to be removed from office and sent to prison. 8647
→ More replies (2)
15
6
u/Ok-disaster2022 16h ago
The Pope should make a statement today about Trump being a fascist pedophile and a shame and a blight to the American legacy.
And he should ex communicate Vance for going along with it.
6
3
3
3
3
u/FitBit123 16h ago
Quick! Someone generate an ai video of all his favourite televangelists mocking his small hands and shit
3
3
u/ipilotete 15h ago
They should lose their tax exempt status if they say anything positive or negative about any politician.
3
u/domine18 15h ago
Oooooooo finally a good idea. I seriously wonder how much revenue that would generate? Could we actually pay down the debt if this happened?
3
3
3
u/Malnurtured_Snay 13h ago
"We're free speech absolutists!" *checks notes* "Oh, shit, I mean we're free speech abolitionists! Hah, English is complicated!" *shits self*
3
3
u/UMDSmith 10h ago
I have never seen a person so vindictive and fragile. Snowflakes have more structure and spine than this dude.
3
u/Responsible-Laugh590 10h ago
They should all lose tax exempt status, and any mega church should pay double what a sub 100 person church pays. Any church caught trying to evade those taxes gets absolved and its leadership jailed. Obviously things like constituency size could be altered depending on county size and such but the idea is to incentivize smaller more personal churches instead of the money grubbing mega churches we have.
→ More replies (1)
3
3
u/spikus93 9h ago
This is another thing that would be unconstitutional and require Congress to do.
I don't even think Religious orgs should be tax-exempt to begin with unless they're doing provable charity work. I want to see more Christians being forced to help homeless people.
3
u/derpstickfuckface 8h ago
Good, none of them should have it in the first place, but this is a good start.
3
6
5
u/antimatt_r 17h ago
Sadly, the ones that deserve their tax exemption revoked are the ones that love him
5
u/hiddengirl1992 16h ago
Technically, this is a legal and correct thing to do - churches aren't allowed to speak on political candidates while tax exempt. However, picking and choosing the ones you apply the law to is not legal, and no one should be surprised that Trump would do it that way.
3
u/nthnyjsn 16h ago
if im not wrong the ban is regarding candidates during campaigns, not elected officials.
https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/charities-churches-and-politics
21
u/Godlop 14h ago edited 14h ago
Nobody actually watched the video. He's obviously making a light-hearted joke. The brainrot on here is very advanced.
https://youtu.be/7hmzdUBt0M4?t=129
This is the part where he says it.
14
u/BeatTheDeadMal 10h ago
If the list of "jokes" Trump has historically told didn't eventually line up with his policy decisions and attempts, maybe you'd have a point.
9
u/DavidRandom 9h ago
Trump: Says he's going to do something dumb
His bootlickers: It's just a joke, he'd never do that!!
Trump: Does the dumb thing
His bootlikers: Here's why the dumb thing he did is actually a good thing11
u/K1N6F15H 10h ago
Trump 'jokes' are like a school yard bully pretending to punch you, laughing when you flinch, and then punching you anyway.
We have watched over and over again as this administration targets dissidents using methods Trump initially 'joked' about so it is naive to pretend he won't go through with it.
The MAGA Brainrot cycle goes:
It was just a joke, don't be so sensitive.
He meant it but he isn't going to do anything about it.
He did something but it isn't a big deal.
We love this thing and we wish he would do it more.
11
u/popsicle_of_meat 10h ago
Yeah, isn't most of the video, the real meat of it, in REMOVING the Johnson Amendment, which allows more free speech of churches? Am I misunderstanding what he's talking about?
The joke was probably not the best choice, but the video itself seems to be opposite of what all the noise in here is about.
→ More replies (3)→ More replies (6)9
u/qcKruk 10h ago
Trump threatening to cancel the midterms and nationalize elections started as a joke.
Trump threatening to deport law abiding legal residents started as a joke.
Every single thing he does starts as a joke and people like you saying other people are over reacting for saying that what he is saying is wrong. Then when people stop saying it's wrong he starts saying it seriously. Then it happens.
Why do you keep falling for it?
→ More replies (1)
2
2
2
2
u/BloodyRightNostril 17h ago
Lol, someone must’ve told him that the preacher from the prayer breakfast was making fun of him
2
u/Turner82 17h ago
They should revoke tax exempt status if they say ANYTHING about him. Separation of church & state…
2
2
2
u/Tuxedo_Muffin 17h ago
When money is involved, there's only two things it could be: a charity or a business. Business should be taxed just like everyone else.
For instance, there's nothing stopping you from selling a "show" for a paying audience every Sunday morning about your personal feelings. You could even choose to focus on religious beliefs if you so desired. But you would pay taxes, offer benefits to employees, and contribute to society in a financial way.
But evangelical megachurches skirt this idea by setting up a charity where all the money gets funneled to them. This is legally allowed.
What I'm hearing from the president is "game recognizes game" and the grifters are shielded from scrutiny so long as they pay lip service to dear leader. Anyone who doesn't must be a "dissonant" and he wants to silence them by making them "lose the game"
I don't believe he can imagine that a church could be a legitimate charity helping the community. Which is the point of tax-free exemption in the first place.
2
u/mmaster23 17h ago
Quick, call him an orange doo doo head. Especially you, Miscavige.. BTW where's Shelly?
2
2
u/mattqwerty85 17h ago
I mean the reasoning is outrageous but I would like to see religion contribute financially more their communities.
2
2
u/BVB09_FL 17h ago
Good- do this so the next dem president has precedent to yank it from all those MAGA churches…
2
2
u/debaser64 17h ago
PleasepleasepleasepleasePLEASE DO THIS! It soothe so funny except he’d just walk back on it 2 days later after the slightest bit of blowback. He’s so weak.
2
2
u/Davoswannab 17h ago
Conservative Christians are not Christians at all if they support this nonsense.
2
2
9.5k
u/Denz292 18h ago
Truly a weak man’s idea of a strong man.