42 Cents to Do the World Some Good
Can you spare a stamp, an envelope, and five minutes? I don’t usually believe in pushing back when pushed, but here is a quick and easy way to make your voice heard if you think that cult-like religious institutions shouldn’t be dictating civil law. From Mr. Sardonic:
The Salt Lake Tribune reports that California Mormons will hear a letter in church this weekend, written by LDS higher-ups, urging them to devote time and money to the ballot measure in November which would enshrine one-man-one-woman marriage in the California constitution. Trouble is, churches aren’t supposed to get involved with politics if they want to keep their tax-exempt status.
Blogger pulsecub recommends these easy steps to let the IRS know that the LDS Church isn’t playing by the rules:
1. Download IRS Form 3949 A to report tax fraud.
2. Leave Section 1 blank.
3. Fill out Section 2 with “The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints” at “50 East South Temple, Salt Lake City, UT 84111″
4. In section 4, “Alleged Violation,” check off “False Exemption” and “Public/Political Corruption,” and then fill out Section 5a explaining how the LDS Church continues to engage in political activity despite its tax exemption; you can even reference the million-dollar-plus donation they made during Hawaii’s fight to legalize same-sex marriage as proof of their political activity. Make sure to include the URL for the Tribune article (http://www.sltrib.com/News/ci_9674302) to document this activity.
5. Fill in your name and address in section 6, and mail it to the IRS at this address: “Internal Revenue Service, Fresno, CA 93888.”
I’d like to believe that readers here are in favor of equal rights for gay people, and that might be enough motivation to drop a letter in the mail. You might also be a fan of the Constitution, particularly the First Amendment. There’s this little thing called the Separation of Church and State. It was working pretty well until the Reagan years, and then was finally turned into toilet paper during the Howdy W. Doody debacle. California’s same-sex marriage law only refers to civil marriage — it has nothing to do with religious preferences or institutions. And if you’d like religions — especially ones that look all uncaffeiny and wholesome while they’re subjugating women and bashing the homos — to start pulling their claws out of government, here’s a simple step toward that cause.
The Constitution — however much its been trampled over lately — is still here to protect us all. Let’s start availing ourselves of it, shall we?