Today is Thursday, July 30, the 212th day of 2020. There are 154 days left in the year.
Today’s Highlight in History:
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In 1956, President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed a measure making “In God We Trust” the national motto, replacing “E Pluribus Unum” (Out of many, one).
Very interesting. I'd vote to change it back.
Amen to that.
In that case, I take it back. 
. No but seriously, I'm God fearing and all but I feel like this contradicts separation of church and state.
LALTS, you think?
"Separation of Church and State" is a descriptor of a legal concept, not a law that can be violated. What you mean to suggest, perhaps, is that it "violates the establishment clause." But the Supreme Court has long held that it doesn't, which is to say, the SCOTUS says you're both wrong. Not that I particularly care, mind you.
Also, while it didn't become the national motto until 1956, it first started appearing on the money in 1864, and originates, of course, in the fourth verse of the national anthem, ca 1814.
Mr. Raz bursts forth as a font of historical info.
Good morning sir!
I just get annoyed when people make pat pronouncements about things when they haven't looked at the history or legal precedent or whatever. My fellow Christians have historically been really bad about doing this, but progressive Democrats have caught right up to them in the past three decades.
"In God We Trust" didn't "replace" E Pluribus Unum. That was never officially a motto of the United States.
In other words, ClemsonDave posted #FakeNews ?
Mine was more a philosophical wish that separation of church and state was a concept that was actually followed. I'm not naive enough to think this will ever happen.
And while we're at it, let's get churches, the NFL and Amazon to actually pay taxes.
What taxes do you think churches don't pay?
Property tax, federal income tax, state income tax, sales tax...
Please correct me.
Generally speaking, corporations, be they for-profit or non-profit, aren't taxed on income at the Federal level. That particular screwing is only applied to us suckers who work for a paycheck. Corporations are taxed on profit - essentially, revenue minus expenses. There are some complexities to it, but generally speaking, that's how it works. And since non-profits, again, generally speaking, don't have any profits, they aren't taxed.
There are some states, like my own, that impose B&O taxes on business income, but because non-profits don't really participate in the commercial commons - there's no "value add" - they are mostly exempted.
Sales tax? There's no federal sales tax. And no categorical exemption of which I'm aware in any state from state and local sales taxes. Exemptions from sales taxes are contextual - what is taxed and who has to collect varies from state to state based on what is being sold and who is selling it. So churches may be exempted from tax on some types of sales, but not most for the simple reason that most sales fall into the category of unrelated business and are therefore subject to tax.
