As for the vast number of the unchurched, they might as well have no
civic rights whatever, for all the attention that is paid to their
sincere convictions. In defiance of the elementary right of religious
liberty, so sedulously professed by politician and priest, millions of
our citizens are informed that if they are not members of some church,
and so getting their share of access to the swag, it is their own fault;
and that they have no right to complain of the robbery of which they are
victims. Since it is impossible to apply direct force, in order to make
every individual become a churchman, the next best ecclesiastical scheme
is to soak him in the pocketbook for not doing so. In other words, the
state is used as a tool to force men and women into the church on the
ground of pecuniary self-interest. The proposition is a brutally plain
one. If they join the church, they get something for the money stolen
from them in the shape of increased taxation; if they remain outside,
the added tax is a dead loss. The idea is worthy of corrupt political
hirelings of a degenerate church, which is out for nothing but profit.
If this is modern Christianity, it is fit only for persons dead to all
sense of honor and of shame.
If all institutions or groups of like-minded individuals received
the benefit of tax exemption, a better defense might be made of the
practice, although it would still involve an injustice toward those who
are perfectly good and useful citizens, in spite of their choice not
to participate in the affairs of any organization. But the favoritism
extended to bodies of a religious nature is at once invidious and
unjust. While the whole theory of our government is hostile to special
privilege, the church arrogates to itself the right to be made
an exception, and to become a particular pet. It ardently craves
parasitism, and is not denied its wish. When other groups of citizens
meet together to consult over their common affairs, or to engage in
common activities, they are not pauperized by the community. If they
occupy land and build upon it, they pay their share of the public
burden, based on the property they possess, just like any other person
or persons, and do not sell their self-respect for the sake of saving a
few dollars. It remains for the one institution which constantly puts
on airs of superior virtue, and which expects to take front seats on all
occasions and to have everybody kowtow to it, to come with the beggar's
whine, and to demand charity of the state. Its dishonesty is only
excelled by its impudence.