In Maryland, residents are trying to hinder the arrival of a Muslim group. The group is looking to build Muslim mosques and convetion centers in the area, but those opposed to it cite "traffic or loss of tax revenues" as reasons to reject the proposal.
But there seems to be a rather large double standard. Last fall, I commented on a Texas town in which churches had grabbed so much land and made it untaxable that it was stunting business growth, and forcing the government to raise taxes elsewhere to make up for lost revenue. In this case, where there was a legitimate concern, nothing was done to hault the exansion of Christian churches. Yet when a single Muslim church seeks land, it's time to use land taxes as a means of rejection.
From the comments of the citizens, though, the reason for the double standard seems quite obvious: Ignorance.
One citizen was quoted saying, "I don’t know that much about Muslims, but I understand they want to take over the world and want us all dead."
Sounds like someone's taking a page directly out of the Bush administration's playbook.
Harvard consumes much of the land of the town it's in. It is exempt from taxes, but understands that it needs a town. It voluntarily pays them.
ReplyDeleteThis is an option for those Big Texas Churches.
So, i visited my Texan cousin, who owns a ranch. He gave me a long tour. When it was, at last, over, i asked if that was the whole ranch? He said "No. Why you can get in your truck and drive all day and not cover the whole ranch!". I said, "I had a truck like that."
What about separtion of churh an state?
ReplyDeleteAren't you always demanding that?
Well, if the state has the power to tax the church, the state has the power to destroy the church.
"The power to tax is the power to destroy."
Perhaps you should actually read my post. Nowhere am I advocating that any church be taxed.
ReplyDeleteRather, I advocate that zoning considerations and land usage be applied equally.
"I don’t know that much about Muslims, but I understand they want to take over the world and want us all dead."
ReplyDeleteYou are aware, of course, that Islamists themselves say this all the time. Not all of them -- many Muslims just want to live in peace -- but their scripture does actually demand that the unbelieving be converted or killed, and many give voice to this belief.
Without knowing much about the case, it is likely that the people of this Maryland town are responding this way because they are aware of what is happening in many European places in which Muslims have de facto taken over and driven the old culture out. Unlike religions that live in relative peace with others, such as Judaism, Buddhism, and Hinduism, Islam does not. There is no attempt to assimilate, and young Muslim men perpetrate violent crimes against the locals, especially women. My husband, who is from Finland, witnessed much of this in Scandinavia before he emigrated to the U.S. Many people who criticize moves in the U.S. to block mosques and other Muslim gathering places from being built are ignorant about the degree to which Muslim immigration has caused enormous problems in Europe.
The reason townsfolk cite zoning and tax reasons is probably that they are unwilling to become embroiled in a political battle over religious/cultural tolerance, which has the potential for a lot of nastiness.
What about separtion of churh an state?
ReplyDeleteAren't you always demanding that?
Well, if the state has the power to tax the church, the state has the power to destroy the church.
"The power to tax is the power to destroy."