By Paul Jacob
Life is trouble. A Washington Post headline caught my eye: "Growing Churches Trouble Prince George's."
In Prince George's county, Maryland, there is a growing rift between churches and the county government over money. Tax money. Tax money the churches don't pay.
The Post reports that tax-exempt religious properties "occupy" 3,450 acres.Occupy seems a funny word to use. After all, they own the land. It's their property. Kinda. Years ago the Cottonwood Church in Cypress, California, was taken by local government using eminent domain. Why? So that the city could arrange for the big retail outlet Costco to move in.
Not that bad -- yet -- in Prince George's.
"We don't oppose churches," says Council Chairman Samuel Dean. "The concern we have is that sometimes churches eat up a lot of land that could be used for other things."
Though churches and synagogues, mosques and temples account for less than 2 percent of the county property, if they were taxed, that'd be $9 million dollars that politicians would like to spend. And the Post reports that the council has already been using zoning to block the growth of churches.
"None of us are against God," said another council member. But, "We're losing tax money and retail."
Cain Hope Felder of Howard University's divinity school says that the churches need to be more sensitive because when they build "it hurts the county in providing vital social services."
But don't forget that churches provide social services, too -- without taxes. You know, religious freedom. . . I think we'll keep it.
This is Common Sense. I'm Paul Jacob.
Common Sense is published by Americans for Limited Government. Their website can be visited at www.limitedgov.org.