[Vision2020] Religion/Politics/Paul Kimmel...And Christ Church?

Jim Meyer m1e2y3e4 at moscow.com
Sat Aug 21 02:00:41 PDT 2004


 Some recent posts have advanced the premise that politics and religion are
invariably inseparable...and that this is a good thing. A simple example
might dispel this notion.

Politics should be an occupation of adults, not children. An adult doesn't
need the moral oversight of church because an adult has fully developed
values already (or he is not an adult). To suggest that men of the cloth
have a greater sense of morality than the average adult is a laughable point
of view given the obvious failures of men of the cloth around the world.
Nationally we can look to the failures of Catholic priests and child
molestation cases. Locally, we can look to the immorality of actions taken
by Christ Church to avoid paying their full share of property taxes.

It is truly sad that in his BOE role, Paul Kimmel may get guidance from a
church that:
1. Has an attorney obviously familiar with the structure and
responsibilities of nonprofit organizations who proved it in public
testimony by using the acronym "UBIT"--technical jargon for "Unrelated
Business Income Tax"--something that is only of concern to nonprofit
organizations.

2. Hides a million dollar yearly (plus/minus) taxable publishing business
(Canon Press) by submitting false/incomplete floor plans to the Board of
Equalization.

3. Hides a million dollar yearly (plus/minus) taxable publishing business
(Canon Press) by lying to the Board of Equalization that 5 parking spots on
the east side of the building are not used by the Church (even though there
are blue signs on the outside of the building proclaiming the parking is for
use by Canon Press.

4. Uses church resources and influence over members to directly support
named political candidates (in complete contradiction to the legal
definition of nonprofit).

5.  The Church and its related organizations have no hallmarks of a
reputable nonprofit organization (such as the use of outside audits,
501(c)(3) status and the avoidance of managment based on one man's
authority).

6. Hides rental income in the basement of New St Andrews by submitting
false/incomplete floor plans to the Board of Equalization.

7. Allows accrual of personal monetary benefit to Doug Wilson (in complete
contradiction to the legal definition of nonprofit)

8. Has leadership that doesn't deny playing "jokes" on the university
community and on which a police report was reportedly filed.

 In summary,  the church is fallible. The men who created the church, as
men, they too are fallible. If a morally immature adult comes to the church
as if as an empty vessel and not using his mind or personal experience,
fills himself entirely with a single church's view, he has no business in
politics because he cannot serve a multi-cultural community. In his
arrogance, he would know only what is best for himself and his chosen church
and he would be blind to many a rightious path.

Jim Meyer



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