Have A Sick Mom That Can't Get To Church & Just Put On A Catholic Mass On Cable TV & I'm Now Furious

[global1]

the priest was at the pulpit damning the HHS ruling on abortion, contraception, etc. Said something like it was the worst attack on Religious Freedom ever in the U.S.

I thought they were supposed to separate Church & State. Don't they get special tax considerations for keeping out of politics?

Needless to say I didn't leave this on. I just feel bad for my Mom - cause she would have appreciated the fact that she could take a Mass in while at home.

[immoderate]

1. I believe they can sanction policy. They can't endorse candidates.

Not that they follow that anyway.

--imm

[Honeycombe8]

19. I think that's it. Free speech. They have a right to say if a policy is wrong, but they

can't endorse candidates and such.

[HopelesslyLiberal]

2. No, they don't - YOU do.

Churches are not taxed because they are non-profit entities. They have no shareholders/owners so they don't pay taxes.

The get 501(c)(3) /tax-exempt status which allows DONORS to DEDUCT DONATIONS. Some non-profits are 501(c)(4) which means they are non-profits that do engage in influencing politics. Donations to those orgs are not tax deductible.

So, if a church loses its tax-exempt status it is the DONORS not the church that gets taxed.

[MotherPetrie]

14. And they should. Their tax deductions force the rest of us to subsidize their fucking churches.

[Honeycombe8]

20. Many churches do a lot of good, esp in poor areas.

There have been times in our history when only the Catholic Church was helping the poor in the poorest of areas. Even now, Nuns on a Bus toured the country, speaking out against policies that would take away the safety net from poor people.

[Peregrine Took]

30. True. Catholic charities is known all over as a force for good.

[Wilms]

3. Well, there is Freedom of Speech.

Not that I get the preist's idea that there's an "attack on Religious Freedom".

I just figure the Catholic Church hasn't alienated enough people yet, so it keeps trying.

[Warpy]

5. When they lose the ability to bully an unwilling population

into following their dogma, they feel persecuted, like they've lost the "freedom" to bully, something they never really had.

That priest should be ashamed of himself.

[loli phabay]

4. as long as there wasnt any calls to vote for or against a particular candidate then they are ok

im more concerned that you turned of the tv due to you having a political difference with the priest rather than letting your mother get the comfort of watching a mass.

[lunasun]

6. but doesnt she get the same BS at her church????

[pnwmom]

7. It's completely up to the particular church. Every priest writes his own sermon

and every parish is different.

I've never heard a sermon like that in the churches I've gone to. Usually, a priest talks about one of the three bible passages that are focused on that week -- not political issues. (Although many bible passages are about people's obligation to care for the needy, so political issues come up indirectly.)

[global1]

9. But This Was A TV Mass - Not Just A Sermon To The People In The Church - But Broadcasted Out....

to God knows how many people. That can be a lot of influence.

[pnwmom]

10. Yeah, and that's bad. Unfortunately, it was probably legal

because it's okay to endorse specific policies, just not specific candidates.

[anneboleyn]

23. If it was on EWTN, they have been preaching these points for months.

They keep urging Catholics to keep the "most important issues in mind" while voting this fall. Those issues are all very clear pro-Republican (pro-life, etc.). They have been discussing the mandate thing constantly! (never mind that Catholics are breaking for Obama). I don't know how it works with the tax issue, but we have wondered also. Especially since as you note this is televised --

[pstokely]

13. RW churches have more $ to buy TV time

nt

[hunter]

15. It's amazing how different church communities can be.

Progressive places tend to get progressive Priests, regressive places get regressive Priests.

My parents used to live in a very Republican conservative place. Attending Mass there was barely tolerable, and only because we did it only once or twice a year.

My wife's parents live in a place where it's a pleasure to attend Mass.

My wife and I have also lived in places where the Priests are dull and seem to get their sermons from some kind of "Celebrating Mass for Dummies" book. It's quite obvious when you talk to them that the Church is having trouble recruiting people. Some Priests are warm bodies filling the spot and going through the motions. Nothing wrong with that if they are gentle, harmless souls, and many of them are, but it also makes it easier for the child molesters to build their evil empires within the Church.

"Dummies" has a web page for people who are attending Mass, but the Catholic Church must also have generic materials for their Priests who are not bright enough to write their own sermons, or even relate "Cliffs Notes" sorts of sermons to their own parish community.

http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/the-catholic-worship-service-the-mass.html

I've never sat through a cable television Mass. I imagine the television "community" the Mass described in the original post represented was the Fox News crowd.

That's a big reason I don't have Cable or Satellite television. Flipping through the channels can be depressing.

[Jennicut]

21. I go to a Lutheran Church but I agree that different communities attract different types

of pastors and priests. The church I go to is very tolerant, open to gay members, child friendly (many churches want kids to be practically invisible). My pastor includes kids in every service. My husband is also the organist there. No open discussion of politics other then to pray for the health and well being of whoever is the President and Vice President at the time.

[fightthegoodfightnow]

8. Religious Intolerance

The Catholic Church insists that only some religious marriages be recognized by the state.

Such is the definition of religious intolerance.

No one is forcing the Catholic Church to marry gays. They want to ram their religion down the throats of others more tolerant.

Ironically, their notion of their savior was conceived out of wedlock, born from a virgin and never married.....oh and hung around 12men (wink, wink).

They moved the Archbishop from LA to San Francisco because he got Prop 9 pased. They moved the Archbishop of Kansas or something to Philly because he was successful in fighting laws to make it easier to prosecute pepophiles.

Make no mistake...the Catholic Church is in the BUSINESS of education and healthcare which is way outside their First Amendment protection.

[treestar]

11. Makes me so mad when they call it religious freedom

to force their beliefs onto others.

[lunatica]

12. I hope you can find something for your mom to watch

Maybe you should ask her priest if he videotapes his sermons, or if he would let you do it. She could watch those and feel she's attending her own church.

[SpartanDem]

16. What he did is legal.

during this if he had said "and this why you should vote for Mitt Romney" that is illgeal and you can report them to the IRS. It's legal to take positions on an issue, what they can not do is endorse candiates.

[UTUSN]

17. R#8 & K for, I feel you

I've complained to the IRS about local radio minister wingnut advertising politics. They told me it's free speech. REVOKE THEIR TAX EXEMPTION.

[janx]

18. Here is something your mom should love to watch, beginning in November:

http://www.phoebeallens.com/

Breeding season starts in November--check for updates about when the camera goes live. She can pray and watch.

There's nobody damning anything, and she will probably love it.

[Nye Bevan]

22. Let your sick mom watch it. Leave the room if it bothers you.

Sick old people can get a lot of comfort from that stuff.

[limpyhobbler]

28. +1

[spartan61]

24. We left our Catholic church two weeks ago because of a

very political article in the church bulletin, even negative comments about President Obama, Nancy Pelosi, and Harry Reid . I posted about it here on DU and was overwhelmed by the support by the family of DUers. I wrote to the priest explaining why we were leaving: Here is my letter:
September 16, 2012

Dear Father XXXXX,

As we left church this morning after a beautiful sermon and church music, we felt wonderful. Then…we read the church bulletin, specifically the article on page 9. We are not sure you are even aware of this article but it is totally inappropriate and SHOULD NOT have any place in church, whether from the pulpit or the bulletin. If the church, any church, wants to be political, no matter the political party, than it should give up its tax exempt status. The article rages about “socialism.” I find this unbelievable in a retirement community where the parishioners must use the “socialist” roads to get to Mass, whose grandchildren attend “socialist” public schools, who receive Social Security checks, and get their health care from Medicare. Perhaps the parish should not expect or depend on any money collected from the congregation. Smacks of Socialism!

After arriving home from church this morning, we did some research on this article. Apparently it has been published in many church bulletins around the country. I’m wondering how this can be if the IRS is aware of the politicking of tax exempt churches. We’re also wondering if Americans United for Separation of Church and State is aware of this much published article.

After lengthy conversations, we feel we have no choice but to leave St. Mark’s. We don’t feel we can belong to a church that seeks dominion over a person’s political beliefs. “Render unto Caesar what is Caesar’s. Render unto God what is God’s.” We try to keep the two separate---like it says in the Constitution.

Former parishioners

Since then we have been "church shopping." It's very enlightening to visit other churches. Today we went to a non-denominational church. It was so up-lifting and non political.

[B Calm]

25. They are supposed to separate Church & State

but, the federal government is afraid to enforce it. They know it would just embolden the bible thumpers even more!

[NYC Liberal]

26. I don't mind if they want to get into politics.

They just need to pay their taxes like everyone else.

Religious orgs aren't exempt because they're religious; they're exempt because they're non-profits. And the same rules about politics apply to ALL non-profits, not just religious ones.

It would be unconstitutional to say "Non-profits are exempt from paying taxes, except for religious non-profits because they're religous." It's NOT unconstitutional to have conditions for tax exemption as long they don't specifically favor or harm religious groups.

[Dawson Leery]

27. Every Catholic Church website I have read has

the same anti-Obama b.s in their weekly newsletters.

[nobodyspecial]

29. Why was it up to you to change the channel?

She's an adult. If listening to Mass on TV would comfort her, what right do you have to turn it off because you don't agree with it. Was this at her house or yours?

[Peregrine Took]

31. Good point.

I get comfort from listening to some of what they say and just ignore the political stuff. The commercials and announcements in between are almost always obnoxious and I just turn down the volume for 2 minutes.