tvashtarkatena

MoveOn is a Political Action Committees and thus donations are not tax deductible. Churches are tax except and donations a tax deductible. If a church starts telling it's congregation how to vote then they should lose their tax exempt status and donations should not be tax deductible. Agreed. IRS has been going after a couple such churches the last year or so. It's been in the papers. correction, ACLU using the IRS to go after the Christian God. Yeah, because we all know the ACLU secretly runs things I believe the IRS just might have access to it's own attorneys. Just a guess.

The New Testament according to Tvash: The Jews: "Life under the Romans sucks." Jesus "I'm Love!" The Jews "WTF?" Jesus "I'm a Sword!" The Jews "Thats better, MF" Jesus "Free eats!" The Jews "Fuck ya" The Romans "Fuck this. Tack 'im up" Jesus "WTF?" The Jews "Jesus who?" The Apostles "Yeah, so and so said he saw 'im, too!" Matthew "Freakin' Night of the Living Dead, bitches!" Mary Magdelene "You guy's are trippin" The New Christians "STFU, slut" Paul "Lets kick some ass!" The New Christians "Fuck ya. Christ is King, MF. Who's is charge of fund raising?"

I wouldn't worry about it too much, because from what I hear, Heaven is a place...a place where nothing ever happens.

Separating church and state requires a really long, sharp crowbar.

Donations to Moveon are not tax deductible, but it is a tax exempt organization. It has the same tax status as the Christian Coalition. It's important to note that urging a congregation to vote a certain way does not constitute lobbying (which means urging members of congress to vote a certain way and helping to draft legislation). There are many kinds of 501© charitable organizations, with different restrictions on their political activities. Something to confuse the issue further from wiki: Political activity Organizations with this classification are prohibited from conducting political campaign activities to influence elections to public office. Public charities (but not private foundations) are permitted to conduct a limited amount of lobbying to influence legislation. Although the law states that "no substantial part" of a public charity's activities may be devoted to lobbying, charities with very large budgets may lawfully expend a million dollars (under the "expenditure" test) or more (under the "substantial part" test) per year on lobbying. [5] All 501©(3) organizations are also permitted to educate individuals about issues, or fund research that supports their political position without overtly advocating for a position on a specific bill. Think tanks such as the Cato Institute, Center for American Progress, and Heritage Foundation and other 501©(3) organizations produce reports and recommendations on policy proposals that do not count as lobbying under the tax code. [edit] Examples of 501©(3) organizations Many 501©(3) organizations are part of nonprofit "conglomerates," having organizational control relationships with other nonprofit organizations. A 501©(4) advocacy organization may create a 501©(3) that operates solely for "educational" purposes. The League of Women Voters advocates positions on issues and evaluates candidates as a 501©(4) and uses its 501©(3) arm to provide nonpartisan voter information. A 501©(6) business league may create a 501©(3) arm to conduct research related to the business focus of the parent organization. Prominent 501©(3) organizations include: American Red Cross Catholic Charities Goodwill Industries Habitat for Humanity Planned Parenthood Salvation Army United Way Feed The Children Charity Navigator offers information on more than five thousand 501©(3) public charities. [edit] 501©(4) 501©(4) exemptions are given to civic leagues or organizations not organized for profit but operated exclusively for the promotion of social welfare, or local associations of employees, the membership of which is limited to the employees of a designated person or persons in a particular municipality, and the net earnings of which are devoted exclusively to charitable, educational, or recreational purposes.[6] 501©(4) organizations differ from 501©(3) in that they are permitted to lobby for legislation. The exemption applies so long as "...no part of the net earnings of such entity inures to the benefit of any private shareholder or individual."[7] [edit] Deductibility of donations to 501©(4) organizations Unlike donations to the more prevalent 501©(3) non-profit organizations, donations to a section 501©(4) organization are not deductible by the donor under section 170 of the code unless the recipient organization is a volunteer fire department as described in revenue ruling 80-77 or veteran organizations with at least 90% of its membership consisting of war veterans as described in IRS Revenue Ruling 84-140. [edit] Prominent 501©(4) organizations AARP National Rifle Association MoveOn.org League of Conservation Voters Christian Coalition

We atheists are a hateful bunch. Being one means I have to hang around with one whether I like it or not, which puts me in even a fouler mood. That's why we have to continually recruit new climbing partners. Who wants to climb with a raving maniac who can't hear you say "off belay" over his screeching about hating God all the time? Plus, you never know when we're going to up and rape a five year old or bludgeon a puppy to death...BECAUSE WE CAN.

At about 3% of the population, I wouldn't feel too threatened. Pontif, when are going out to worship the powdery white god on the holy long shoes?

...but not, under any circumstances, up Tiger Mountain.

I don't subscribe to the notion that religion, per se, causes most wars. The root cause of many wars isn't really knowable, kind of like a marital argument, but it seems that competition for land and other resources is near the top of the list. Religion has provided a great deal of legitimacy and social control required for such ventures, though. The conquistadores didn't sail to the New World to spread the faith, they did so to gain riches and status denied to them in the stayed society of the Old World. Spreading the faith helped them get legitimacy and funding for their projects. Even the Crusades were not primarily about religion; they were about consolidating political power and wealth in Europe. Religion made for a great recruitment and fund raising tool, however, as well as a dark pallete with which to paint the enemy.

Funny, I don't remember ranting on this thread, Pontif. You may doubt, non-believer, but I challenge you to quote anything I've said on this thread so far that I don't actually believe. Ready, set, go.....

Flagrant violation of the Establishment Clause. Constitutional law 101. As for KKK's stupid post; um, we non-believers don't hate something we, um, don't believe in. What is it that you don't get? As being the servants of Satan, well, of course that goes without saying.

The Great One has Spoken. End of Discussion. "This is great stuff...but it just makes you guys look bad." Talk about covering all your bases. Am I the only one to see the irony of this high horse proclamation?

What in God's name are you trying to say here?

Considering the fundamentalist christian legislative agenda to firmly establish this country as a christian nation, I'd say that the strong emotional response is both warranted and deserved.

If this is what dengue fever does to you, I'm staying the hell out of Thailand. See you this weekend, gheyboy.

The evolutionary clock just got set back several million years.

Last time I checked our roads weren't privately built and maintained.

Do I have to be the one to remind you that we're all sinners?

Oh, and BTW, Underworld, the Born Again crowd thinks you Catholics are as fucked as us atheists. Good times! So here's my question for the originator of this thread: If someone is an atheist who does good works, what do your beliefs tell you about what happens to them after they die? If they must stand in judgement, what chances do they have for salvation if they were ardent non-believers their whole life?

Um, I was raised Catholic. Eight years at St. Francis Solano Elementary, baby. Sorry to dissappoint. Catholics do seemed to be a bit toned down when it comes to competing religions. My parish was very liberal and did a lot of good works in the community; always a good thing. Unfortunately, 4 of my classmates were molested by priests from other parishes at CYO summer camp, so it wasn't "all good". The 'lics still have some weird ideas about sex they'd do well to get over.

I just hung two aluminum pipes wrapped in True Value grip tape on spectra from my regular pullup bar (Thanks cracker). I do the pullups for a lat workout, then pullups on the pipes (HARD), then lock off for as long as I can, then hang for as long as I can. ASS KICKING. After that I do a session with the VICEGRIPPER, which you can purchase on my website CHOKE YOUR TOOL for three easy payments of $129.95. Actually, 15-20 reps to failure on the VICEGRIPPER gives a nice final burn.

Bullshit. If you post anything in Spray, you get raped with a chain saw. Except Bong Hits for Jesus. That's just two great things that go great together. There are several fundamentally hypocritical aspects of the cult of Christianity which should be mentioned here: 1) Only Christians are saved; the rest of us are fucked. No matter how 'nice' a Christian is, that's the way they look at the rest of us. "Join us or burn, baby". There may be Christian sects that do not believe this...anyone know of any? 2) Their's is the one true god. Worship anything else, or nothing, and well, see 1) 3) It is for reason #1 that christians seek to legally impose their religion and values on the rest of us. Anyone who doesn't believe this hasn't been awake since the Reagan years (and prior, of course). Not all christian sects are politically involved, but enough are to provide cause for great worry. They do it out of 'love'. "I loved you so much I just had to rape you." I take individual as they come, but I'm one 'pre-christian' (a cute little term I pulled off a website for a church up in Everett for those of us who have gotten out of or bought into the cult) tend to find any supremicist group that considers itself 'chosen' unattractive. JH doesn't seem full of hate to me, just truth.

If you don't care why are you posting? You'd care a lot after the 'dark cyclist' you put in the hospital and his/her lawyer sucked your assets dry. BTW, for all you dark riders out there: By far the most visible (forward) lights I've seen have been two synchronized flashers on either end of the handlebars. Single flashing LEDs headlights, while much better than nothing, just get lost in all the light noise. Those who regularly play car roulette in winter time when drivers can barely see other cars might think about making a little life preservation investment.

We've all got so much in common...

I frequently shout out the Lord's name while climbing, particularly when the spirit, caught in the throes of His almighty power, sweeps my reluctant body away from the humble earth upon which it desperately clings.