preview

The Separation Of Church And State

Best Essays

When we hear the word politics we immediately think republicans or democrats, left or right. But what people don’t think about is religion. Hardly anybody uses those terms in the same sentence. But religion and politics are one. Even though religion does not control the government it plays a major role in creation of laws and regulations for the citizens of this “free country”. While the constitution expresses the separation of church and state, we can examine the laws to prove no such separation exist by highlighting the tax laws of church, the issue of abortion and the denial of gay rights. Though religion shouldn’t exist in politics, it’s there and it has taken citizens’ rights away. Churches have been exempted from paying taxes for many years saving millions and millions of dollars every year. The estimated value of untaxed church properties in the United States is on the order of $300 billion to $500 billion (Schweitzer). Though churches don’t pay taxes, they still use municipal services and expect police and fire departments to respond in case of an emergency, at the cost of regular tax-payers’ money. Just in New York City 627 million dollars were lost to religious institutions that are tax-exempt according to the New York Post. While churches do make charitable work, they are mainly visited for religious worship, where hospitals and shelters do work that otherwise would fall under the government therefore the tax exemption is justified. Freedom of religion is

Get Access