,,exempting ,,the ,,churches  ,an       
,argument for the ,abolition of ,this   
,unjust and ,unconstitutional ,practice 
,by ,james ,f4 ,morton4 ,jr4  ,no person
 shall be required to support any       
ministry or place of worship against his
 consent--,the accepted ,american       
principle4  ,to relieve the property of 
a church from taxation is to appropriate
 money1 to the extent of that tax1 for  
the support of that church4444 ,to      
exempt the church from taxation is to   
pay a part of the priest's              
salary4--,ingersoll4  #aiaf4            
,,exempting ,,the ,,churches  ,,an      
,,argument ,,for ,,the ,,abolition ,,of 
,,this ,,unjust ,,and ,,unconstitutional
 ,,practice4  ,the history of the       
democratic spirit1 from its first       
inception to the present day1 is that of
 a ceaseless struggle with special      
privilege4 ,the principle of caste1 in  
its numerous manifestations1 is         
constantly at war with the right's of   
man4 ,after centuries of incessant      

conflict1 the advance of democracy is   
beyond all question2 and its ultimate   
triumph can be denied only by those who 
hold that progress is destined to cease 
and civilization to decay4 ,it has      
become evident that what is democratic  
is good and beneficial to mankind1 that 
what is undemocratic is evil and harmful
 to the human race4 ,kings1 kaisers1    
emperors1 czars1 hereditary             
aristocracies and oligarchies of every  
kind1 however necessary or useful       
factors they may have been in certain   
early stages of the transition from     
barbarism to civilization1 are now      
recognizable as drags on the chariot    
wheel of progress4 ,the world has begun 
to rid itself of all these anachronisms2
 and the day of their entire and        
permanent disappearance can now be      
foreseen in the not extremely distant   
future4 ,complete autocracies have      
practically ceased to exist4 ,monarchy  
by divine right is recognized for the   
monstrous lie which it always was2 and  

the few atavistic survivals who continue
 to mouth that once revered phrase are  
abhorred1 pitied or despised by all sane
 men and women4 ,mixed governments are  
the general rule1 since the old and     
exploded fallacies of personal          
government yield unwillingly to the     
march of progress and justice2 but in   
each case the authority is slowly but   
surely passing more and more into the   
hands of the people2 and the hereditary 
rulers are becoming mere figureheads or 
subsidiary agents of popular government1
 pending their final disappearance4 ,in 
our own and a few other lands1 we are   
happily rid of them long since1 and we  
wish the same good fortune at an early  
date to the rest of the nations4 ,the   
reactionaries of the different countries
 vainly declare that democratic triumph 
is a sign of degeneracy4 ,on the        
contrary1 where democracy flourishes1   
all forms of progress are found to      
thrive best4 ,each new step in the      
direction of human liberty has been     

bitterly opposed by the worshipers of   
the past4 ,they have poured forth       
eloquent jeremiads1 and vehemently      
predicted the collapse of society and   
the deterioration of the race1 whenever 
religious liberty1 freedom of the press 
or of speech and assembly1 a republican 
form of government1 the abolition of    
hereditary office and titles of         
nobility1 the overthrow of slavery or   
any other great forward step was        
proposed2 and in every single instance  
the result of the increase of liberty   
proved so beneficial to the human race  
as to give the lie most unequivocally to
 the false prophets of evil4 ,never has 
autocracy been proved to be superior to 
democracy in any single particular of a 
fundamental nature4  ,,the ,,meaning    
,,of ,,the ,,principle4  ,reading the   
future in the light of the past1 we may 
safely maintain that a fuller           
application of the democratic principle 
in our own republic can be fraught with 
nothing but blessings to our people4    

,democracy does not mean merely the     
election of officials by popular        
franchise1 nor is it synonymous with    
unlimited majority rule4 ,starting from 
the premise of the equal rights of all  
men and women1 it necessarily signifies 
the paramount importance of the         
individual1 and next to the individual1 
the rights of the collective community4 
,it must protect the individual to the  
fullest possible extent in his          
inalienable rights of life1 liberty and 
the pursuit of happiness4 ,it is only   
when he alleges the pursuit of these    
rights as a pretext for meddling with   
the equally fundamental rights of his   
fellows that the community1 as the      
representative of the total rights of   
all its members1 finds warrant for      
interference1 and for restraining the   
invader4 ,there can be no question as to
 this general principle4 ,the           
difficulties in application arise only  
from the facts that the relative rights 
of individuals are not mathematically   

determinable and that human judgment is 
not infallible4 ,lawmaking is an        
attempt1 more or less successful1 to    
reach a workable approximation of       
absolute justice1 based on the general  
democratic principle4  ,the antithesis  
of democracy is special privilege4 ,this
 is the extension of certain powers to  
one or more individuals1 at the expense 
of one or more other individuals1       
without proper compensation and in      
violation of equal justice4 ,whatever   
interferes with equality of initial     
opportunity falls under this head4      
,democracy abhors all forms of          
favoritism4 ,there is no injustice in   
unequal remuneration for differing      
degrees of social service2 but there is 
grave wrong in rewarding equal services 
unequally or unequal services equally4  
,all theories of social reform are based
 on a more or less clear realization of 
this truth1 and on the supposition1     
whether correct or incorrect1 that      
conditions exist at present which confer

 undue advantage on a favored class or  
on favored classes4  ,,precedence ,,of  
,,individual ,,rights4  ,what is true of
 material advantage is equally true of  
prerogatives of every description4 ,the 
state cannot legitimately restrict any  
form of personal liberty1 unless its    
indulgence involves some definite injury
 to the liberties of others1 and that so
 great as to overbalance the interests  
of individuals in maintaining the       
liberty in question4 ,where there is a  
reasonable doubt1 democracy demands that
 it be resolved in favor of the         
individual4 ,mere majorities cannot     
decide the issue4 ,redheaded men and    
women form a very small percentage of   
the population2 but the overwhelming    
majority of others have no right        
whatever1 under the democratic          
principle1 to decree that this small    
group shall be exterminated1 or even    
that it shall be subject to a special   
tax or to any other burdensome restraint
 not applied to all the people4 ,freedom

 of the press is a vital democratic     
principle1 which becomes absolutely     
worthless1 unless it be recognized as a 
right of even the smallest minority1 no 
less than of the largest majority4 ,the 
humblest citizen is entitled to trial by
 jury and the use of the writ of habeas 
corpus1 although his enemies and        
accusers constitute the great mass of   
the people4 ,majority tyranny is in no  
sense genuine democracy1 but is a       
wretched counterfeit4 ,as a practical   
necessity1 the majority must be held to 
govern in all matters of strictly       
collective concern2 but it has no right 
to meddle with that which is strictly of
 a private nature4  ,the absolute and   
perpetual separation of church and state
 is among the most imperative           
requirements of the democratic          
principle4 ,nothing can be so           
essentially the private concern of the  
individual as his personal beliefs on   
subjects of abstract speculation4 ,here1
 of all places1 the state cannot intrude

 without rendering itself guilty of the 
foulest conceivable crime against its   
citizens4 ,religious conviction can     
never be a collective matter4 ,only if  
all the brains in a group of persons    
could be fused into one1 would it be    
possible for such group to hold an      
opinion of its own4 ,each of ten men may
 accept the doctrines of the ,roman     
,catholic church2 but the moment an     
eleventh man1 who is of another way of  
thinking1 joins the group1 it can no    
longer be said that the group believes  
in the tenets of ,catholicism4 ,a       
majority of the individuals composing   
the group so believe2 but there is no   
one mind thinking for all4 ,apparent    
exceptions exist only in the case of    
mobs1 in which the free play of         
individuality is temporarily suspended1 
the members of the crowd being          
hypnotized and maddened out of the      
capacity for intelligent thought or     
action by some influence which has been 
brought to bear on them4 ,this is not a 

collective mind1 but the temporary      
surrender of a group of individuals to  
an overpowering and irrational impulse4 
,the mob spirit is at the opposite pole 
from the spirit of democracy4  ,,opinion
 ,,not ,,subject ,,to ,,majority ,,rule4
  ,not only can a group or a nation not 
hold a collective religious opinion1 but
 no majority in it1 however great1 can  
change the opinion of a single          
individual by any form of coercion4 ,it 
may suppress the outward manifestation  
of opinion1 and may indirectly present  
considerations to the mind of the       
individual which will lead him          
ultimately to recast his views in some  
respects2 but it cannot directly command
 the humblest or most docile of its     
members to change his mode of thinking  
on the instant4 ,the pretense of        
uniformity of faith in a people must1   
therefore1 be the sheerest humbug4      
,could belief be collective1 and made to
 continue so1 there would be some       
pretext for the advocacy of a state     

church4 ,since1 however1 there is no way
 of making every individual an organic  
part of a believing whole1 a real state 
church is an unqualified impossibility4 
,a dominant party or number of          
individuals may by sheer brute force    
compel the rest of the community to pay 
lip-service to a formal organization    
labeled a state church2 but the total   
amount of belief in the dogmas of such  
an institution will not be increased in 
the slightest degree by the false label 
which seeks to represent it as an       
expression of community-belief4 ,a state
 church cannot become a centre for      
collective worship1 since no such thing 
is possible2 it can only bring together 
for joint outward expression of worship 
a mass of individuals1 the real         
believers among whom will engage in     
actual worship1 while others1 under     
persuasion or coercion1 will go through 
certain mechanical forms of no value to 
themselves or to others1 in simulation  
of the reverence which they do not feel1

 and without which their participation  
in the external rites of religion is    
meaningless4  ,,union ,,of ,,church     
,,and ,,state--,,its ,,origin4  ,history
 joins forces with reason in proving    
that union of church and state is an    
intolerable evil4 ,the state religions  
of antiquity were either the agents of  
political despotism1 or themselves1 as  
in ,egypt1 formed a special despotism   
under which both rulers and people were 
crushed to the earth4 ,since the advent 
of ,christianity1 the rule of the church
 has never failed to bring disaster4    
,the beginning of the calamity is       
traceable to the reign of the ,roman    
emperor ,constantine1 sometimes misnamed
 ,the ,great4 ,of many bad emperors1    
this man stands out conspicuously among 
the worst4 ,usurper1 liar1 perjurer1    
thief1 murderer1 and villain in many    
other regards1 he adopted ,christianity 
as a state religion from motives of an  
unusually crafty policy4 ,so little did 
his newly professed faith influence his 

underlying character1 that his crimes of
 the blackest type continued unabated   
after his professed conversion4 ,he did 
not even respect the foundation         
principles of ,christianity sufficiently
 to become baptized until he lay on his 
deathbed1 when his grossly superstitious
 mind deluded itself with the fantasy   
that a few drops of water and a few     
mumbled incantations would have the     
magical effect of atoning for a lifetime
 of infamy1 and would carry him         
straightway into a region of eternal    
gratification of every desire4 ,during  
,constantine's reign1 organized         
,christianity began by dividing official
 honors with the more ancient ,roman    
religion1 and ended by usurping the     
entire authority1 and by persecuting    
those who still clung to the faith of   
their fathers4 ,later emperors carried  
the process still further1 ostentatious 
piety and unbounded corruption going    
hand in hand1 until ,rome became a      
synonym of utter rottenness1 and fell an

 easy prey to the barbarian hordes which
 poured down from northern ,europe4     
,with the union of church and state     
under ,constantine began a period of    
mental and moral stagnation1 which      
continued for about ten centuries4 ,it  
was an anti-millennium1 a thousand years
 of distinctively ,christian rule1      
productive of every conceivable evil1   
with scarcely a redeeming feature4 ,so  
black a night settled down on the human 
race that by common consent the epoch is
 appropriately known as that of the     
,dark ,ages4 ,the church was sole       
master1 and independence of thought was 
visited with torture and death4         
,persecution1 massacre1 religious wars  
without end1 and extermination of whole 
populations and the merciless slaughter 
of the noblest of the race were its     
characteristics4 ,rome1 the alleged holy
 city1 the centre of church power1 was a
 pestilential swamp of vice and crime   
beyond the ability of words to describe4
 ,not a ray of hope appeared in the     

blackness until the raising of voices   
against the extreme control of the      
church4 ,the human mind refused to      
remain forever in fetters1 and the      
rising movements of humanism and the    
renaissance witnessed the beginnings of 
the great revolt4 ,the ,protestant      
,reformation1 an attempt to purify      
,christianity from within1 succeeded in 
rending the church asunder1 but failed  
to redeem it from the worst of its      
inherent evils4 ,its leaders loved      
religious liberty as little as did their
 ,catholic rivals4 ,calvinism proved to 
be as ready to murder in the name of    
,god as ever ,romanism has been4        
,persecution of heretics1 witch-hunting 
and the oppression of the whole people  
for the profit of ecclesiasticism went  
merrily on in all lands4 ,the gradual   
fading out of these horrors has been    
brought about step by step by no other  
agency than by the gradual emancipation 
of the state from the clutches of the   
church4  ,,religious ,,liberty ,,the    

,,test ,,of ,,progress4  ,looking around
 the world today1 it is easy to measure 
the progress of the different peoples by
 the degree in which they have attained 
religious liberty4 ,the strictly        
,catholic countries1 where least light  
has penetrated1 and where the right of  
the church to control the lawmaking     
power and to dominate public education  
has been longest recognized1 are        
precisely those most backward in all the
 essentials of civilization2 and in each
 of these lands1 any uprising of the    
people on behalf of liberty and progress
 is invariably accompanied by an open   
war against the special privileges of   
the church4 ,thus ,france and ,portugal 
have found it impossible to win and hold
 their fundamental liberties except by  
shaking off the ecclesiastical yoke2 and
 in these lands the clerical element is 
foremost in the evil work of plotting   
the restoration of the monarchy and the 
annihilation of the rights of man4 ,in  
,mexico1 the priesthood has been fully  

recognized as the most deadly enemy of  
the people4 ,in ,spain1 the founder of  
secular education1 ,francisco ,ferrer1  
was brutally murdered at the behest of  
the clerics2 and their associates in    
this and every land have not ceased to  
spread abroad lies that are intended to 
blacken his memory and to excuse his    
assassins4 ,the anti-clerical and       
republican movements in ,spain and      
,italy go hand in hand4  ,the ,united   
,states of ,america started right in    
theory1 although it has not been always 
firm and loyal to the democratic        
principle4 ,observing the evils of a    
state church1 as they had existed in    
,europe and in the ,american colonies1  
our forefathers wisely incorporated into
 the federal ,constitution strong       
provisions intended to save our land    
from religious tyranny4 ,by this        
fundamental document1 the right of      
political organization is expressly     
derived from the people1 and not from   
any supposed divine sanction4 ,no       

recognition of any religious doctrine   
appears anywhere in the instrument4 ,to 
make perfectly clear the democratic     
purpose of the ,constitution1 a bill of 
rights1 consisting of eleven amendments1
 was added as a condition of the        
ratification of the instrument by the   
original states4 ,to the eternal honor  
of the framers of this bill of rights1  
the first words of its first article    
are3 ,congress shall make no law        
respecting an establishment of religion1
 or prohibiting the free exercise       
thereof4 ,the ,constitution itself      
contains the no less highly significant 
clause3 ,no religious test shall ever be
 required as a qualification to any     
office or public trust under the ,united
 ,states4  ,the various state           
constitutions1 while not so thoroughly  
and consistently secularistic as the    
fundamental document of the nation1 in  
practically every instance contain a    
general provision guaranteeing religious
 liberty4 ,the legislatures and courts  

have often enough betrayed their trust1 
and have imposed on the people of the   
respective states measures of the       
grossest unconstitutionality and of the 
most shocking disregard of private right
 in this regard4 ,rarely1 however1 is   
warrant to be found in a state          
constitution for legislation looking    
toward the patronage of any form of     
religion by the state4 ,the numerous    
existing encroachments on our liberties 
are as unlawful as they are immoral4    
99  ,for a fuller discussion of the     
principles of ,secularism      7the     
democratic doctrine of absolute         
separation of church      and state7 and
 of improper religious legislation in   
this      country1 see ,the ,american   
,secular ,union 7,j4 ,f4 ,morton1       
,jr41 #e cents71 ,christian ,sabbath    
7,j4 ,e4 ,remsburg1 #c      cents71     
,congress and ,sunday ,laws 7#c cents71 
,the ,fourth      ,demand 7,woolsey     
,teller1 #aj cents74 ,all for tale by   
,the      ,truth ,seeker ,co4  ,,the    

,,people ,,greater ,,than ,,any         
,,constitution4  ,even were the facts   
otherwise1 democracy is greater than any
 constitution2 and its vital principles 
would remain valid4 ,from a democratic  
point of view1 the state has no right to
 impose any religious observance on a   
single individual1 nor to limit any of  
his actions in accordance with the      
doctrines of any religion2 it has no    
right to appropriate a single cent of   
public money for any religious purpose1 
nor to cast its moral influence for or  
against any religion or religious sect4 
,its plain duty toward all forms of     
opinion concerning religion is to       
maintain a perfect neutrality1 and to   
treat all citizens on a plane of        
absolute equality in this respect4 ,the 
state is officially neither ,christian  
nor anti-,christian4 ,it is simply an   
organization of individuals for mutual  
protection and for the more effective   
forwarding of their strictly collective 
aims and interests1 which are           

exclusively secular4 ,the moment it     
passes beyond these boundaries1 its     
actions become ultra vires and          
tyrannical4  ,as already shown1 nothing 
can be more completely and essentially a
 private matter than religion4 ,where   
the beliefs1 words or acts of an        
individual do not affect the equal      
rights of any of his fellows1 singly or 
collectively1 the state can under no    
legitimate pretext interfere with them4 
,not only may it not interfere with the 
free exercise of any form of religious  
worship or the performance of any       
religious acts not properly prohibited  
on grounds of public policy independent 
of their connection with religion1 but  
it is guilty of a flagrant denial of    
equal justice1 if it shows the slightest
 partiality to any form of religious or 
anti-religious belief1 or practices any 
discrimination against any such4 ,it has
 no right to help or encourage any or   
all forms of religion1 any more than to 
hamper or discourage them4 ,the one     

thing to which they are all1 from ,roman
 ,catholicism to ,atheism1 entitled to  
receive from the state on precisely     
equal terms1 is protection in the       
peaceable exercise of their rights1     
involving full liberty to spread their  
respective doctrines at their own cost4 
,no honest cult would ask for more1 and 
no self-respecting school of thought    
would accept less4 ,whether any         
particular religion or religion as a    
whole thrives or decays1 is none of the 
state's business4 ,all it has to do is  
to give a free field to all1 and let    
them succeed or fail in proportion to   
their own merits and their ability to   
convince men and women of their truth   
and of their claim to support at the    
hands of individuals4  ,,the            
,,inequality ,,of ,,exemptions4  ,the   
exemption of church property from       
taxation is a direct and unqualified    
violation of every one of the foregoing 
principles4 ,it is a denial of the      
foundation truths of democratic         

government4 ,it is a mean and           
underhanded attempt to do indirectly    
what cannot be done more directly4 ,in  
its essence it is nothing more or less  
than the indirect support of the church 
by the state4 ,it is the connivance of  
the state in the picking of the pockets 
of its citizens by the church4 ,every   
dollar of taxation which the church is  
allowed to dodge is one dollar more laid
 on the shoulders of the honest         
taxpayers4 ,to exempt the church from   
taxation means to lighten its load at   
the expense of the people4 ,it means    
that the state helps to proselytize in  
the interests of special cults4 ,the    
smaller or incipient sects1 which own no
 land or buildings1 are placed at a     
relative disadvantage1 regardless of    
their merits compared to the older and  
stronger religious bodies4 ,the state   
rewards mere acquisition in such a way  
as to facilitate greater acquisition4   
,it helps the strong as against the     
weak1 the wealthy as against the poor4  

,the trifle saved by the small country  
church1 with its cheap structure located
 on land of a nominal value1 is         
relatively of immeasurably less help to 
it than that given to the rich city     
church1 with its magnificent edifice    
erected on a plot worth its tens of     
thousands of dollars and constantly     
appreciating in value4 ,even as among   
the churches themselves1 the system of  
exemption works thus unfairly and in the
 direction of concentration of wealth4  
,it affords temptation to the churches  
to procure and hold much more land than 
they really need1 regardless of the     
growing wants of the community4  ,talk  
of the ethical and educational          
attributes claimed for the church is    
wholly beside the question4 ,it is not  
the business of the state to raise its  
revenues only from the baser elements of
 the population4 ,as its private        
citizens do not pay taxes in proportion 
to their lack of virtuous qualities1 so 
neither should the institutions which   

enjoy state protection4 ,our great      
philanthropists1 scientists1 inventors  
and educators are not exempt from       
taxation on the ground of the great good
 they are doing4 ,as citizens of the    
state and nation1 they receive their    
share of social advantages1 and do not  
whine over the fact that they are asked 
to pay their quota toward the           
maintenance of those advantages for the 
common good4 ,their good deeds in       
addition are voluntary1 and not         
performed in the expectation of being   
permitted to shirk their social         
obligations by way of reward4           
,,churches ,,doctrinal1 ,,not ,,moral4  
,no amount of sophistry can disguise the
 fact that the church is primarily a    
doctrinal organization4 ,no theories of 
supernaturalism are needed1 in order to 
teach a pure morality1 founded on the   
social relations of human beings4 ,if   
the church existed primarily for ethical
 purposes1 we should not have the       
spectacle of some hundreds of struggling

 sects1 each loudly proclaiming itself  
as the great repository of fundamental  
truth4 ,the religious denominations1 at 
their best1 are rival establishments1   
vociferously competing for public favor4
 ,to say this1 is to cast no reflection 
on their sincerity4 ,but even the       
highest degree of sincerity does not    
necessarily involve freedom from error4 
,as mutually destructive theories cannot
 be alike true1 it follows as an        
imperative conclusion that not more than
 one religious body can be entirely     
correct in its doctrinal formulas4 ,all 
may be wrong2 all but one must be4 ,and 
if the truth rests in a single religious
 sect1 there exists no competent and    
wholly impartial arbiter to settle the  
dispute in the eyes of everybody4 ,even 
if it were not a fact that majorities   
cannot determine truth1 no one          
denomination has anything like a        
majority4 ,the largest single body is   
the ,roman ,catholic4 ,yet even this    
powerful body numbers less than a sixth 

of the population of our country4 ,far  
behind it comes the ,methodist1 a much  
subdivided body4 ,even if all its       
branches be counted as one united       
organization1 it includes less than one 
in ten of the population1 and is far    
from containing even a majority of the  
,protestant ,christians4 ,exemption from
 taxation is primarily assistance toward
 the spreading of doctrine4 ,inasmuch as
 only one of the beneficiaries of this  
disguised state aid 7if even one7 is the
 repository of basic truth unmixed with 
glaring error1 it follows that1 no      
matter where the truth may lie1 at least
 five-sixths and possibly an enormously 
higher proportion of the money thus     
released for doctrinal proselytism      
represents the subsidizing by the state 
of what is mathematically proved to be  
false teaching4 ,on this simple         
proposition all must agree4  ,,the      
,,preponderance ,,of ,,error4  ,if all  
religious bodies are exempt from        
taxation1 no member of any one of them  

can dispute the fact that for every     
dollar which the state indirectly       
contributes to the cause of truth1 it   
gives from five to a thousand times as  
much to error4 ,if all but a mere       
handful of the people accepted some one 
creed as divinely inspired1 while       
exemption from taxation would still be  
an unjustifiable infringement on the    
rights of the minority1 there would at  
least be some plausibility in the       
attempt to justify it on the ground that
 the balance of probability might fairly
 be claimed for the views of the        
overwhelming majority4 ,unsound as such 
an argument would be1 it would possess  
an overwhelming weight in comparison    
with the present position of the tax    
exemptionists1 who would not merely     
leave the enemy to sow tares amid the   
wheat1 but would themselves fairly choke
 the good seed with a crushing          
preponderance of foul weeds4 ,if the    
democratic principle of separation of   
church and state forbids the            

manipulation of public funds1 and by an 
obvious parity of reasoning the taxing  
power of the state1 for the promotion of
 any given sect which may possess the   
whole truth1 the general subsidizing of 
all sects1 so far from being less       
obnoxious to objection from the         
standpoint of honest administration1 is 
even more so1 since it ensures the      
survival of a mass of falsehood1        
incapable of being sustained by its own 
unaided efforts4 ,it fosters the less   
worthy among the sects1 which could not 
win their way by merit2 and it          
insidiously corrupts the more worthy1 by
 inviting them to thrive by parasitism1 
rather than by appealing to the force   
which resides in truth and in the       
consistent devotion to high ideals4     
,,the ,,partiality ,,of ,,exemption4    
,in thus granting an indiscriminate     
subsidy to a vast number of doctrinal   
bodies1 the state violates the          
fundamental doctrine of democratic      
neutrality and impartiality4 ,it favors 

a portion of the community at the       
expense of all the rest4 ,the millions  
of dollars which are thus given back to 
the churches do not come out of the air1
 but out of the pockets of the taxpaying
 citizens4 ,it is the worst form of     
taxation without representation4 ,it    
places a premium on dogmatic faith4 ,it 
is an establishment of religion in      
direct defiance of the spirit of the    
,constitution4 ,contrary to the         
rudimentary principles of democracy1 it 
places the state in the position of     
formally endorsing the proposition that 
religion is a public function and not an
 affair of the private conscience4 ,it  
differs from medievalism only in degree1
 but not a whit in kind4 ,it is worse   
than robbing ,peter to pay ,paul2 it is 
robbing ,peter and ,paul to pay ,judas4 
,rights of ,conscience ,disregarded4    
,not only is exemption from taxation a  
covert subsidy for the spread of        
doctrinal proselytism2 not only does it 
place the state in the position of      

paying for the circulation of           
incomparably more error than truth2 not 
only does it rob part of the community  
for the benefit of another part2 not    
only does it violate the principles of  
justice and of impartiality as among the
 conflicting beliefs of its various     
citizens2 not only does it force the    
taxpayers to support religion1 whether  
they wish to do so or not2 not only does
 it unite church and state in defiance  
of democracy and equal liberty2 but it  
constitutes a direct and deliberate     
violation of the fundamental rights of  
conscience4 ,it is not a mere matter of 
making individuals pay for that toward  
which they are indifferent2 it is       
stealing their money to assist in the   
circulation of dogmas which they regard 
as positively pernicious and evil4 ,in a
 democracy1 all citizens possess the    
same rights1 and can lawfully be called 
upon to surrender no freedom or         
prerogative except for some public end  
of paramount consequence4 ,no majority1 

however large1 can offer the faintest   
valid excuse for trampling on the       
private convictions of the humblest     
member of society4 ,by all uncorrupted  
minds1 it would be at once recognized as
 the most glaring tyranny to demand that
 any individual be compelled to make    
public or private profession of a faith 
in which he did not actually believe1 or
 that he be required to participate in  
public worship against the dictates of  
his own reason and conscience4 ,such    
infamies have been perpetrated in the   
history of mankind2 but they are now    
justly abhorred by all who have         
assimilated the elementary lessons of   
civilization4 ,no longer are men and    
women hunted down as heretics for their 
honest inability to believe that a      
muttered priestly conjuration can turn a
 cracker into the flesh of a deity or a 
cup of wine into his blood4 ,no longer  
are the fires of persecution kindled for
 those whose mathematical training has  
made them incapable of accepting the    

paradox that one is three and three are 
one4 ,the thumbscrew and the rack no    
longer punish with a hell on earth all  
who have too high an opinion of any ,god
 whom they can conceive as existing to  
believe that he is so vile a monster as 
to have prepared a hell beyond the grave
 for any of his own children4 ,even in  
the backward countries where democracy  
and religious liberty are equally       
obnoxious to the powers that make their 
rule a curse to their subjects1 and     
where the miserable thing known as a    
state church thrives to the fullest     
extent1 such concessions to the growing 
decency of the world have been forced   
upon a reluctant priestcraft1 that its  
venom is largely drawn4 ,once in a long 
time1 after years of patient and        
incalculably subtle plotting for its    
nefarious end1 it may achieve a crowning
 infamy1 such as the murder of a        
,francisco ,ferrer2 and even for this   
triumph it pays dearly in the end1 by   
arousing against itself the loathing of 

all that is honorable on earth4 ,in the 
main1 however1 priestcraft1 growl as it 
may1 even in the lands where its        
strength for mischief is greatest1 can  
only suppress free speech1 free press   
and free assemblage2 indulge in acts of 
petty persecution1 which arouse         
resentment rather than inspire terror2  
punish refusal to bow to a religious    
procession or indulgence in the         
expression of honest opinion with fine  
or relatively brief imprisonment4 ,it   
can annoy1 but it can no longer crush4  
,,abuse ,,of ,,economic ,,power4  ,in a 
land of democracy1 even these last      
remnants of the scourge of medievalism  
are wiped out4 ,we look with indignation
 and disgust at the priest-ridden       
countries where a slavish population    
submits to the lash of bigoted despots1 
and rejoice that our lot is cast under a
 freeer heaven4 ,such religious         
persecution as may still be found among 
us finds no warrant in law4 ,it consists
 of the abuse by individuals of their   

economic power over others4 ,in any     
community where human beings are found  
vile enough to wish to destroy what they
 can of the happiness of all who do not 
pronounce their shibboleth1 they can    
only resort to private activity in the  
way of ostracism1 boycott1 blacklisting 
and other weapons of cowardly           
malignance2 and the state gives them no 
countenance in their criminal           
enterprises4 ,it is our proud boast that
 in this land of freedom the state      
protects every person in the full       
exercise of his right to choose his own 
religion1 and to abstain from           
recognition of any other4  ,what a pity 
that words are not always equivalent to 
deeds6 ,so curiously compounded is the  
human mind that few are capable of      
carrying a principle to its logical     
conclusion4 ,in some matters1 a middle  
ground is possible2 but there can be no 
compromise in cases where the slightest 
concession vitiates the entire          
contention of one side or the other4 ,in

 matters of policy or of tactics1 it is 
often feasible and just that each of the
 contending parties should recede       
somewhat from its extreme demands1 in   
order to break a deadlock1 or to promote
 good feeling2 and refusal to yield a   
non-essential point may be justly       
condemned as obstinacy4 ,even in matters
 of principle1 there is no sacrifice of 
one's own sacred convictions in         
manifesting respect for the convictions 
of others4 ,but between manifesting     
respect for the views of an opponent and
 surrendering one's own conscience to   
him1 there is a great gulf fixed4 ,we   
may agree that truth needs no artificial
 props1 and that nothing can be safer   
than to allow even the most flagrant    
error full liberty of expression4 ,this1
 however1 is something very different   
from ourselves furnishing the medium of 
expression for that which we believe to 
be false and pernicious1 and giving it  
the unmerited advantage of our moral    
sanction4 ,when we realize that         

exemption from taxation is as palpable a
 subsidy as direct appropriation of     
funds for the propagation of the        
doctrines of the exempted institution1  
and that every taxpayer must not only   
bear a heavier burden in consequence of 
such exemption1 but must also1 with or  
against his will1 be counted as part of 
the organic social whole which          
officially pronounces in favor of the   
merits of such doctrines1 we immediately
 perceive that the wrong done to the    
citizens is not to be measured in       
dollars and cents4 ,standing at the     
parting of the ways1 the state          
deliberately chooses to follow the path 
which leads in the direction of         
ecclesiastical domination of the        
protesting individual4 ,it denies the   
sacred and blood-bought principle of    
full religious liberty4 ,it asserts that
 the private conscience of the          
individual is the property of the       
community4 ,this is the theory of the   
,spanish ,inquisition1 and is           

diametrically hostile to democracy4 ,if 
the state has the right to decree that  
its citizens1 regardless of their       
desires and convictions1 shall be forced
 to contribute to the support of the    
church1 it has an equal right to declare
 that they shall give their time as well
 as their money to its upbuilding2 that 
they shall attend its services and give 
it the benefit of their membership2 that
 they shall refrain from any word or    
deed1 public or private1 which may tend 
to weaken its influence2 that they shall
 submit all their affairs to its        
guidance1 and shall obey its ministers  
in all things4 ,there is no logical     
stopping-point short of this consistent 
application of the doctrine that        
religion is a matter of public concern4 
,if this doctrine be true1 every step   
away from the ,middle ,ages has been a  
ghastly mistake2 and we should return in
 all reverence and humility to the ideas
 and efforts of ,torquemada and ,simon  
de ,montfort4 ,no person has a logical  

right to condemn medievalism1 who does  
not fully and consistently accept the   
democratic principle that religion is a 
strictly private affair and that it is  
in no way the business of the state to  
concern itself with the question whether
 the church is to live or to die4 ,from 
the democratic standpoint1 the church is
 simply a voluntary group of            
individuals1 who hold certain beliefs   
and aims in common1 and who have the    
same right as all similar groups to     
associate for the carrying out of such  
aims1 provided that they do not involve 
lawlessness of any kind1 and to use     
their own means in propagating their    
ideas among such men and women as choose
 to lend a hearing to them4 ,like all   
other groups of law-abiding men and     
women1 it is entitled to protection     
against lawless interference with its   
peaceful and lawful activities1 whether 
the majority of the community may       
approve or disapprove of its specific   
doctrines2 and it is bound1 in its turn1

 to refrain from interfering with the   
equal freedom of other groups or        
individuals4 ,in case of a dispute1 the 
state is the proper umpire1 not with    
reference to the truth or the           
wholesomeness of the doctrines professed
 by the church or by its opponents1 but 
solely with reference to the question   
whether the civil rights of either      
faction have been infringed by          
representatives of the contrary party4  
,there is no room here for the          
favoritism inherent in tax exemption4   
,this measure cannot satisfy the claims 
of either democracy or medievalism4 ,it 
gives to priestcraft either too much or 
too little4  ,,the ,,enemy ,,in         
,,disguise4  ,if the church is entitled 
to put its hands in the pockets of      
individuals to further its own purposes1
 tax exemption is a cowardly subterfuge2
 and the honorable way would be to      
announce openly the abrogation of       
religious liberty and democracy1 as     
proven incompatible with the higher     

truth1 and to require every individual1 
as a lawful tributary of the church1 to 
contribute directly to its support4 ,if 
the church has rightful authority over  
us all1 the sooner we know it the       
better4 ,let us then cease to prate of  
freedom1 and bow our necks meekly to the
 yoke4 ,let it be distinctly recognized 
that the priests are absolute masters1  
and that we of the common herd have no  
human rights but the duty simply of     
passive submission4 ,in such a reversion
 to the ,dark ,ages1 there would at     
least be the merit that we should at    
last have done with the miserable       
hypocrisy which pays lip-service to     
democracy1 while insidiously making the 
state the tool of ecclesiastical        
influences4 ,we should know the worst1  
and could choose whether to submit or to
 raise the banner of open revolt against
 an undisguised enemy and usurping      
despot4  ,as this happens to be the     
twentieth century1 and as the pet dream 
of the ,vatican that in some way the    

world may be brought to return to the   
degradation and servitude of the tenth  
century is one fortunately doomed to    
disappointment1 few beyond an occasional
 ,spanish ,jesuit or an irresponsible   
,billy ,sunday will regard the foregoing
 program as possible or desirable of    
realization4 ,no matter how untrue we   
may be to our democratic ideals1 we know
 in our inmost minds and hearts that the
 progress and well-being of humanity    
depend on their realization4 ,we do not 
propose to take a single step backward  
into the darkness of the past1 or to    
forfeit any of the liberties already won
 through centuries of struggle4 ,it is  
too late in the world's history to      
dispute the right of private conscience4
 ,all that is necessary is to realize   
how far that right actually extends1 and
 not to be cheated by a remnant of      
reactionary tradition4 ,this being true1
 tax exemption is at once doomed in the 
court of enlightened morality1 since we 
unite in rejecting its logical          

implications4 ,if priesthood has no     
lawful power over our private actions1  
it has no right to claim a subsidy at   
our expense4 ,what it may not do        
directly1 it has no right to do         
indirectly4 ,if we may not be compelled 
to a full support of the church1 it is  
nothing short of larceny to require us  
to render even a partial assistance to  
its propaganda4 ,we ask no              
discrimination against it1 but simply   
that it be required to exercise its     
functions at its own cost1 supported by 
the voluntary contributions of those1   
and those only1 who believe in its      
doctrines and its methods1 and who      
desire to help it4 ,this is simply      
common honesty1 to which the church1 as 
the professed exponent of the higher    
ethics1 should be the first to give its 
enthusiastic adhesion4  ,,paying        
,,tribute ,,to ,,positive ,,evils4  ,the
 sin against private conscience becomes 
the more glaring1 when it is considered 
that in the eyes of many individual     

citizens the creeds and conduct of      
certain at least of the churches        
represent not merely error1 but positive
 evil4 ,it is irrelevant to assert that 
these citizens are wholly mistaken4     
,none of us being infallible1 their     
opinion is entitled to the same         
consideration as that of anybody else4  
,the exemption of church property from  
taxation forces them1 as citizens of a  
secular state1 to pay tribute to what   
their consciences condemn as organized  
vice4 ,the teachings of the ,mormon     
church are anathema to many1 so much so 
that in more than one otherwise         
law-abiding community missionaries of   
this faith are even denied a hearing and
 are subject to persecution1 which      
naturally strengthens them in the       
conviction that they are suffering for  
righteousness' sake4 ,yet the ,mormon   
church is a beneficiary of tax          
exemption1 no less than any other       
,christian sect2 and every citizen must 
pay a higher tax1 in order to put money 

into the treasury of this gigantic fraud
 and to enable it to carry on its       
propaganda more fruitfully4 ,the ,roman 
,catholic confessional1 its celibate    
priesthood1 its non-producing and       
parasitical monks and nuns1 are held in 
holy horror by many conscientious       
,protestants1 who look upon these       
features as conducive to vice and as    
reeking with immorality4 ,every one of  
these ,protestants1 however1 is forced  
by the state to present the ,roman      
,catholic church with a portion of his  
earnings1 and thus to provide it with   
the means of increasing its power for   
evil4 ,in like manner1 the zealous      
,catholic1 who is certain that          
,protestantism is dragging millions of  
souls to hell1 and who earnestly        
believes that married pastors sin       
against ,god and lead others away on the
 road to perdition1 must help pay for   
the perpetuation of this ministry of    
,satan4 ,the liberal sects1 which       
thunder against the villainy of creeds  

that drive human beings mad with despair
 by visions of an imaginary hell and    
fiery devils1 cannot protect their      
adherents from being compelled to enrich
 the purveyors of these hateful and     
injurious dogmas4 ,nor can the orthodox 
denominations1 on the other hand1 escape
 from the outrageous condition which    
requires their members to pay for the   
circulation of ,unitarian and           
,universalist teachings1 which they     
regard as the most hideous and          
soul-destroying blasphemy4 ,in the      
logrolling attempt to give every hog a  
chance at the trough1 the only result is
 that nobody's conscience is free from  
violation4  ,,touching ,,the ,,pocket   
,,nerve4  ,as for the vast number of the
 unchurched1 they might as well have no 
civic rights whatever1 for all the      
attention that is paid to their sincere 
convictions4 ,in defiance of the        
elementary right of religious liberty1  
so sedulously professed by politician   
and priest1 millions of our citizens are

 informed that if they are not members  
of some church1 and so getting their    
share of access to the swag1 it is their
 own fault2 and that they have no right 
to complain of the robbery of which they
 are victims4 ,since it is impossible to
 apply direct force1 in order to make   
every individual become a churchman1 the
 next best ecclesiastical scheme is to  
soak him in the pocketbook for not doing
 so4 ,in other words1 the state is used 
as a tool to force men and women into   
the church on the ground of pecuniary   
self-interest4 ,the proposition is a    
brutally plain one4 ,if they join the   
church1 they get something for the money
 stolen from them in the shape of       
increased taxation2 if they remain      
outside1 the added tax is a dead loss4  
,the idea is worthy of corrupt political
 hirelings of a degenerate church1 which
 is out for nothing but profit4 ,if this
 is modern ,christianity1 it is fit only
 for persons dead to all sense of honor 
and of shame4  ,if all institutions or  

groups of like-minded individuals       
received the benefit of tax exemption1 a
 better defense might be made of the    
practice1 although it would still       
involve an injustice toward those who   
are perfectly good and useful citizens1 
in spite of their choice not to         
participate in the affairs of any       
organization4 ,but the favoritism       
extended to bodies of a religious nature
 is at once invidious and unjust4 ,while
 the whole theory of our government is  
hostile to special privilege1 the church
 arrogates to itself the right to be    
made an exception1 and to become a      
particular pet4 ,it ardently craves     
parasitism1 and is not denied its wish4 
,when other groups of citizens meet     
together to consult over their common   
affairs1 or to engage in common         
activities1 they are not pauperized by  
the community4 ,if they occupy land and 
build upon it1 they pay their share of  
the public burden1 based on the property
 they possess1 just like any other      

person or persons1 and do not sell their
 self-respect for the sake of saving a  
few dollars4 ,it remains for the one    
institution which constantly puts on    
airs of superior virtue1 and which      
expects to take front seats on all      
occasions and to have everybody kowtow  
to it1 to come with the beggar's whine1 
and to demand charity of the state4 ,its
 dishonesty is only excelled by its     
impudence4  ,,churches ,,not ,,public   
,,institutions4  ,the church cannot be  
heard to claim that it is a public or a 
quasi-public institution4 ,it exercises 
no public function of any description   
which should warrant granting it        
immunity from the general laws binding  
on all members of the community4 ,its   
mission is to preach something which it 
calls the gospel4 ,by its own insistent 
declaration1 it derives its authority to
 teach solely from the being whom it    
worships as its deity499 ,it is not in  
any sense commissioned by the state or  
by the people1 and asks no permission of

 either to carry out its purposes4 ,its 
members are held together by a body of  
doctrine accepted by them all2 and they 
maintain a form of worship which they   
count pleasing in the sight of their    
,god4 ,if they are mistaken1 it is labor
 and devotion thrown away2 if they are  
right1 they will be individually and    
collectively rewarded by heaven1 either 
in this life or in some other4 ,all this
 is strictly their own business and that
 of their deity4 ,it does not concern   
the state in any way whatever4 ,the     
state has no means of knowing whether   
they are right or wrong1 and is not     
being served in any way by their        
ceremonials4 ,its work and theirs do not
 lie parallel in a single respect4 ,the 
further function of the church1 as a    
church1 is simply to seek to convert    
others to the body of dogma which it    
puts forward as the message of ,god to  
man and the revelation of the divine    
will4 ,here1 again1 the state is in no  
way concerned1 provided the alleged     

divine will is not an incitement to any 
form of lawlessness or crime4 ,if the   
attempt at proselytism fails1 the       
community is in no way affected2 and if 
it succeeds1 the state receives no      
possible benefit1 and owes the church   
nothing for the putting forth of its    
activities4 ,as ,god is the only        
possible beneficiary of the church's    
efforts1 it is for him to pay its       
taxes991 if it is itself unable to do   
so4 ,the state is under no moral        
compulsion to discharge his obligations4
 ,if he does not see fit to come to the 
rescue of his needy representatives1    
their conclusion must logically be that 
he expects them to pay their own bills4 
,the church1 like every other organized 
or unorganized group of human beings1   
receives certain definite and regular   
services from the state1 which cost     
money to render1 and which create a debt
 just as palpable as the debt to the    
carpenter who builds the meeting house  
or the coalman who furnishes fuel to    

keep it warm4 ,if the church had any    
adequate conception of common honesty1  
it would pay its taxes without a whimper
 and as a matter of course991 just as it
 pays its gas bills or settles any of   
its accounts with individuals4 ,it does 
not inform its private creditors that it
 should be exempt from payment for      
services rendered1 just because it is a 
religious body2 and it would be given   
small shrift by any court1 should it    
attempt to evade such claims on such a  
ground4 ,as little has it a moral right 
to take from the public without         
returning an equivalent in material     
remuneration4       99 ,even by a       
miracle if necessary4 ,it is recorded   
that when      ,jesus was called upon to
 pay taxes in ,capernaum 7,matt1 xvii7  
he made no argument for exemption1 but  
straightway      dispatched his disciple
 ,peter after the didrachma1 with       
which1 it is assumed1 the debt to the   
community was      discharged4  ,,the   
,,no-,,profit ,,sophistry4  ,a weak     

attempt to justify church graft consists
 in the affirmation that it is engaged  
in purely altruistic labors1 and is not 
a profitmaking institution4 ,it is not  
engaged in any openly commercial        
undertaking4 ,salvation is free1 and all
 are welcome to its inestimable         
blessings4 ,the sophistry and lack of   
ingenuousness which make it possible to 
present such an argument with a straight
 face can scarcely be characterized in  
parliamentary language4 ,it fairly reeks
 with self-evident fallacies4 ,first of 
all1 if the church chooses to run its   
affairs on a non-profit basis1 that is  
strictly its own business1 and does not 
concern the state in any way4 ,if it has
 no property1 it escapes taxation as a  
matter of course1 like the individual   
who has nothing4 ,but if it is able to  
own property1 it immediately incurs a   
specific obligation to the state1 which 
is totally independent of the use it    
makes of its property4 ,the man who     
retires from business1 and lives on his 

income1 is not thenceforward exempted   
from all taxation1 because he is no     
longer making money4 ,nor does it serve 
as an excuse that he is making no       
profitable investments1 but is using up 
his bare capital1 and is spending his   
time and part of his means in           
philanthropic work4 ,in spite of all    
this1 he is a member of society1 and    
must meet his obligations as such1      
whenever the tax collector comes around4
 ,the same is true of an organization4  
,the church takes up just as much space1
 receives as much social protection and 
as much benefit from every civic        
improvement1 whether it is making money 
or not4 ,the state does not forbid it to
 make money or to engage in commercial  
enterprises2 and its failure to do so is
 purely voluntary1 and is entirely      
irrelevant to the discharge of its      
pecuniary obligation to organized       
society4 ,its privileges may be free2   
but what does that mean to those who    
count them as worthless8 ,it is a cheap 

evasion of responsibility to offer in   
lieu of the specific payment of a debt1 
to render the creditor some form of     
alleged service for which he has no     
possible use1 and which means nothing   
whatever to him4 ,this remains true1    
even if the unbeliever is under the     
spell of error1 and ought to appreciate 
the blessings of religious counsel4 ,the
 dance may be one of the most beautiful 
forms of art2 but if ,vernon ,castle    
offered to discharge a monetary         
obligation to a blind creditor by the   
execution of the most wonderful         
,terpsichorean evolutions in his        
presence1 there would be no payment of  
the debt1 even though the artistic      
performance might be intrinsically worth
 far more than the sum owed1 and would  
be readily so appraised by all who had  
their eyes4 ,no matter how valuable     
religious exercises may be in           
themselves1 nor how much satisfaction   
they may give those who believe in them1
 the civil rights of the unbeliever     

remain on a par with those of the       
believer2 and it remains true that the  
offer by the church of un-desired       
services can in no way constitute an    
obligation4 ,let the church be supported
 by those who accept its offer1 and who 
desire to profit by its privileges1 such
 as they are4 ,this remains no affair of
 other persons1 or of the state4 ,the   
benefits of religion are subjective and 
strictly personal2 and the state is in  
no way qualified to pass on their value4
 ,to say that non-churchmen should help 
pay the expenses of the church because  
they can become churchmen if they wish  
to do so1 is to say that a debt can be  
contracted without a consideration4     
99 ,not that the church always regards  
the payment of its      private debt as 
a matter of course4 ,the ,rev4 ,dr4     
,huntington of ,grace ,episcopal        
,church1 ,new ,york city1 and           
,william ,r4 ,stewart1 one of the church
 wardens1 in #aijh asked      an        
architect1 ,j4 ,stewart ,barney by name1

 to prepare plans      for extensive and
 expensive alterations in the church    
building4 ,the architect did the work in
 good faith and to      the full        
satisfaction of the church1 but was     
deliberately      cheated out of his pay
 on the pretext that1 though the        
church wanted the work done1 knew and   
approved of its being      done1        
received and was fully pleased with the 
benefits of      it1 yet it had not     
technically authorized its pastor and   
warden to give the order6 ,grace church 
is one of the      wealthiest religious 
bodies in ,new ,york4 ,such is          
,christian      honor and morality1 the 
exalted character of which is           
supposed to lay the community under a   
burden of gratitude      toward the     
church6  ,,the ,,church',s ,,commercial 
,,aspects4  ,it is not strictly true1   
however1 that the church is in no sense 
a profit-making institution1 or that it 
has no commercial aspects4 ,if the      
church were not successful in a business

 sense1 it could not accumulate property
 or capital1 and would not have to worry
 about exemption4 ,there are more ways  
of making profits than by straight      
buying and selling4 ,an organization    
which is able to play on the hopes and  
fears1 the superstitions and sentiments1
 the beliefs and enthusiasms of its     
members and of those who come under its 
spell1 and thereby to secure the means  
of buying land1 erecting buildings and  
paying v current expenses1 cannot       
honestly pretend to be a purely         
benevolent society4 ,let its teachings  
be true or false1 good or bad1 the      
principle is precisely the same4 ,it    
receives money from individuals1 who    
believe that they receive1 in spiritual1
 to some extent in intellectual and     
esthetic and even in physical values1 an
 adequate return for what they pay4     
,this is a plain business proposition1  
whether the value is really there or    
not4 ,the fact that no definite price is
 fixed for the services1 but that       

payment is at least nominally voluntary1
 is wholly irrelevant4 ,a restaurant    
conducted on the liberal plan of eat    
what you like1 and pay what you think it
 is worth1 would be no less a business  
enterprise1 and its property taxable as 
such4 ,as a matter of fact1 business men
 in some lines have actually been known 
to follow a similar plan4 ,how          
successful the church has been in this  
regard may be seen by the enormous      
wealth which various church corporations
 have acquired1 always under the claim  
of being non-profit-making institutions4
 ,trinity ,church corporation of ,new   
,york owns hundreds of houses1 and pays 
taxes on some #ae1-jjj1jjj worth of     
property1 which it cannot deny that it  
uses for purely commercial purposes1    
besides its immense holdings of valuable
 land and buildings claimed to be used  
by it only for worship and hence exempt 
from taxation1 amounting to             
approximately an equal value4 ,where did
 ,trinity church1 which keeps up the    

sham of representing the faith of the   
poor ,nazarene reformer1 who had not    
where to lay his head1 and who lived    
mainly by hand-to-mouth charity1 get the
 means of purchasing some #cj1jjj1jjj   
worth of property1 if it is a purely    
non-profit-making institution1 which has
 honestly followed its alleged master's 
express injunction to take no thought   
for the morrow1 and to lay not up       
treasure on earth8 ,exemption on that   
part of its property used exclusively   
for worship1 by setting free a large    
proportion of the moneys accruing to it 
from its members and benefactors1 which 
would otherwise have been used in paying
 its debt to the community1 enabled it  
to use its surplus in investments which 
were of a directly commercial nature4   
,one hand washes the other1 and the     
state is the dupe of the pious          
legerdemain4  ,a ,,strictly ,,cash      
,,business4  ,even the religious and    
ceremonial features of the church are   
not free from commercialism4 ,the       

,romain ,catholic church represents the 
extreme example of the money-making     
aspect of religion4 ,its audacity in    
pretending to deserve consideration as  
an organization devoted purely to       
worship1 and in no sense to profit1 is  
beyond the power of words to            
characterize as it deserves4 ,the dupe  
of papistry pays1 in good1 hard1 current
 coin1 for all that he gets1 and for a  
great deal more than the actual value   
that he receives4 ,for the pious and    
credulous ,catholic1 life is one long   
litany of pay1 pay1 pay1 wherever the   
priest and the church are concerned4    
,the shouting ,methodist may be         
satisfied to yell that salvation is     
free1 and to take a chance on the       
collection as a means of defraying the  
high cost of delivery on the free       
article2 but the ,roman ,catholic priest
 knows a better trick4 ,it is strictly a
 cash business with him4 ,the ,catholic 
believer must pay his little ten cents  
every ,sunday for the privilege of      

sitting on a hard bench1 and listening  
to a ceremony very little of which is   
intelligible to him4 ,in order to catch 
him in all the relations of life1 and to
 entangle him in a network from which   
there is not even a momentary escape1   
the astute hierarchy has devised a      
series of no less than seven sacraments4
 ,so cleverly is the scheme arranged for
 the trapping of credulous flies that a 
consistent ,catholic can take scarcely  
an important step in life without       
incidentally paying tribute in some form
 to the church1 the most monumental     
beggar history has known4 ,every real or
 pretended service of the church has its
 price1 and no evasion is tolerated4    
,the confessional and the system of     
penance are finely constructed to       
wheedle or frighten more money out of   
the ignorant and susceptible4 ,the      
greedy priest hovers about the sickbed1 
ready to take any possible advantage of 
human weakness4 ,the patient or his     
relatives may be reduced to a sufficient

 state of imbecility to seek the aid of 
the church's pretended miracle system or
 of some of its holy relics4 ,if        
recovery seems hopeless1 there is always
 the pleasing possibility of coaxing or 
bulldozing the half dead and mentally   
decayed victim to make a will in favor  
of the church1 no matter what cruel and 
unjust deprivations are thereby imposed 
on helpless dependents4 ,what would be  
baseness in any other human being1      
becomes transmuted into the most exalted
 virtue on the part of the priest2 and  
any graft is permissible and            
commendable1 from the ,romish viewpoint1
 if the church is the beneficiary4 ,an  
immense traffic is carried on in all    
sorts of consecrated objects for the    
greatest variety of purposes4 ,even at  
death1 the church does not relax its    
hold1 but has concocted the preposterous
 fable of purgatory1 in order to keep   
its foolish dupes continually paying out
 money for which nothing whatever is    
given in return4 ,then there are all    

sorts of indulgences and dispensations  
for those able and willing to pay for   
them1 besides the practical coercion by 
which1 under the guise of voluntary     
beneficence1 the slave of superstition  
is continually mulcted for various      
alleged needs of the church4            
,,free-,,will ,,offerings ,,not ,,always
 ,,voluntary4  ,the ,protestant churches
 adopt a different method1 not quite so 
successful in dragging the hard-earned  
dimes out of the worn purse of the poor 
washerwoman or in stealing the coppers  
off the eyes of the corpse1 but         
reasonably efficacious4 ,they1 too1 to  
at least some extent make merchandise   
out of the house of the ,lord4 ,the pew 
rent system is as plain a business      
affair as the buying of seats in a      
theatre4 ,the collection is the most    
important item in almost every          
,protestant religious service4 ,it is   
nominally voluntary1 but there are      
numerous ways of inflicting acute mental
 discomfort on those who do not come up 

liberally to the help of the ,lord4 ,by 
skillfully playing on the emotions of   
the congregation1 and if possible       
inducing in them a state of hysteria1 an
 astute moneyseeker like ,simpson of the
 ,christian ,alliance or ,billy ,sunday 
of the gutter gospel can induce a       
scared1 madly excited1 hypnotized crowd 
to help the ,lord to the extent of      
thousands of dollars1 none of which can 
be recovered by the victims on the next 
day1 when they have become sobered and  
ashamed of their fit of spiritual       
intoxication4 ,and the church has the   
phenomenal impudence to boast that the  
money thus tricked out of persons       
reduced to a frenzy in which they did   
not know what they were doing was       
voluntarily donated6 ,large funds are   
also secured by this non-commercial     
institution through church fairs1 grab  
bags1 special entertainments and other  
devices which are held to be decidedly  
commercial when carried on by worldly   
people1 but which become mysteriously   

sanctified when conducted for the       
benefit of the church4  ,the claim that 
the church1 as a non-commercial         
institution1 is entitled to the kind    
chaperonage of the state in the shape of
 exemption from the obligation of paying
 its honest debts1 besides being bad and
 invalid in itself1 has not even the    
poor merit of resting on a basis of     
fact4 ,moreover1 since there are plenty 
of other noncommercial institutions1    
which pay taxes like any other concern1 
no reason is given why the church should
 be the one special pet4 ,social and    
recreative institutions are not         
conducted for profit1 nor are           
,socialistic or ,anarchistic groups1 the
 property of which is not exempt from   
taxation4 ,all of these1 like the       
church1 meet the desires or gratify the 
tastes of individuals1 and are of the   
greatest subjective value to those to   
whom they appeal1 while worthless to    
everybody else1 and in no way connected 
with the legitimate functions of society

 in its collective aspect4 ,hence none  
of them can justly make the slightest   
claim to be exempted from the duty of   
rendering to ,caesar that which is      
,caesar's4  ,,toward ,,the              
,,concentration ,,of ,,wealth4          
,exemption of church property from      
taxation is a deliberate invitation to  
the concentration of wealth1 in         
opposition to its equitable             
distribution4  ,while social reformers  
are straining every nerve to devise and 
apply effective methods for the breaking
 down of monopoly1 the policy of        
favoritism toward ecclesiastical bodies 
is building up the evil in its most     
aggravated form4 ,if the churches really
 regarded themselves as simply trustees 
of the resources placed in their hands  
by private benevolence and state favor1 
and spent all or practically all that   
they received for the benefit of        
humanity1 some defense1 though even then
 an insufficient one1 might be made of  
the practice of tax exemption4 ,the     

tendency1 however1 is wholly in the     
reverse direction4 ,the more the        
churches receive1 the more property they
 accumulate1 heedless of the stern      
warning of ,isaiah1 the iconoclastic    
,hebrew reformer1 who1 according to     
tradition1 was sawn asunder for         
offending the priests and the king by   
the heretical doctrine that ,jehovah    
would have mercy and not sacrifice and  
preferred social justice to religious   
ceremonialism4 ,woe1 cried the prophet1 
unto them that join house to house1 that
 lay field to field1 till there be no   
room1 and ye be made to dwell alone in  
the midst of the land6  ,it needs no    
expert knowledge of political economy to
 comprehend how readily untaxed property
 can be made to multiply4 ,sharing all  
the social advantages1 and bearing none 
of the social burden1 its owners can    
bide their time through all the tips and
 downs of the market1 sure to gain in   
the end4  ,all things come to him who is
 in a position to wait longest4 ,while  

the possessions of others are           
automatically limited by the effective  
lien placed on them by the taxing power1
 the churches can placidly increase     
their holdings to their hearts' content4
 ,in the long run1 they can outbid      
competitors1 who must add the cost of   
annual taxation to the original payment 
for the property acquired4 ,safe in the 
evasion of their civic duties1 they have
 nothing to do but to grow richer and   
richer4 ,paying no taxes1 they become   
independent of the state1 an imperium in
 imperio1 a power rivaling that of      
organized society itself4  ,,wealthy    
,,churches1 ,,impoverished ,,people4    
,no class in the community can grow     
steadily richer without causing other   
classes to grow relatively poorer4 ,the 
two tendencies are halves of the same   
process4 ,if a larger and larger        
percentage of the land falls into the   
possession of a given institution1 it is
 mathematically demonstrable that a     
greater number of individuals must      

remain landless and homeless1 and that  
the cost of access to the remaining land
 in the community must become greater   
and greater1 making it harder and harder
 for the common citizen to live4        
,untaxed property in any community adds 
heavily to the common burden4  ,that    
this is not mere speculation may be seen
 by a glance at history1 where it will  
be found in land after land1 and in     
century after century1 that favoritism  
to the church1 wherever tolerated1 has  
wrought incalculable evil to the people1
 largely through the heavy accumulation 
of wealth by the ecclesiastical body4   
,so unendurable has the condition become
 that in country after country the only 
possible relief was found to be through 
wholesale confiscation1 thus settling   
accounts at one stroke4 ,thus1 ,henry   
,,viii of ,england became a reformer in 
spite of himself1 and though personally 
a dishonest tyrant with few if any      
redeeming features1 at least conferred a
 lasting blessing on the people of      

,england by forcing the church parasites
 to disgorge enormous values which had  
become means of the most intolerable    
oppression4 ,france and ,portugal1      
though for centuries staunch ,catholic  
countries1 found the wealth of the      
church and the impoverishment of the    
people to go regularly hand in hand1 and
 were finally forced1 in decreeing the  
separation of church and state1 to adopt
 stringent measures for breaking the    
monopolistic power of the hierarchy4    
,the ,philippine insurrection against   
,spain was largely an uprising of an    
outraged people against the priests and 
friars1 who were coming to own          
everything1 and to reduce the population
 to a state of vassalage4 ,the part     
played by the priesthood of ,mexico in  
the impoverishment of the people1 while 
the church revenues waxed greater and   
greater1 is familiar to all who are     
acquainted with the causes which have   
brought that unhappy land to a state of 
chaos and wholesale bloodshed4  ,,some  

,,results ,,of ,,the ,,system4  ,like   
tendencies are to be observed as a      
result of exemption of church property  
from taxation1 wherever the false       
principle is in vogue1 the only variance
 being one of degree4 ,in ,montreal1 for
 instance1 we have a striking example of
 the effect of wholesale exemptions4 ,in
 #aiac1 when the evil had reached its   
height1 and relief was imperatively     
demanded1 the church had already come to
 own no less than one-fourth of the real
 estate in the community4 ,this was     
simply the logical outcome of favoring  
this class of landholders at the expense
 of all others4 ,the ,montreal          
provisions were unusually lax1 thus     
hastening the inevitable result2 but    
they did not differ in principle from   
those of the ,american states which     
favor monopoly by leaving church        
property untaxed4 ,the case of ,trinity 
,church of ,new ,york city1 already     
cited1 with an accumulation of about    
#cj1jjj1jjj in property1 is ominous of  

the fearful possibilities of an         
indefinite continuance of the policy of 
permitting one group of citizens to prey
 upon all the rest4 ,the one missionary 
society named for ,st4 ,paul the        
,apostle1 in the same city1 owns not    
less than fifteen lots of land1         
appraised at various amounts from #bejj 
to #aa1jjj each1 and is still adding to 
its accumulations4 ,it would be hard to 
conceive of a more unwholesome state of 
affairs2 and the process continues with 
unabated celerity4 ,the peril against   
which ,england found it necessary to    
provide in the ,statute of ,mortmain is 
a very present one4 ,if church property 
is to be permanently exempted from      
taxation1 it is not difficult to see how
 an enormous percentage of all the      
property of the community may ultimately
 come to be tied up in the hands of     
these wealthy ecclesiastical            
corporations which have already made so 
substantial a beginning in this         
direction4 ,we are jeopardizing the     

rights and liberties of future          
generations4  ,in this connection1 it   
must be borne in mind that nothing is   
stationary4 ,the minds of men change    
from age to age2 and that which appears 
to one generation to be the most        
rootedly established truth1 is in the   
course of a few decades completely      
rejected4 ,religion is no exception to  
the general rule4 ,the ,greek1 the      
,roman1 the ancient ,norse gods have had
 their day2 and not a worshiper remains 
on earth to bow before their altars4    
,christianity may likewise pass2 already
 its active devotees form but a minority
 of the population4 ,and if             
,christianity as a whole may ultimately 
relinquish the field altogether1 it is  
still more unlikely that the tenets of  
any particular sect known today should  
hold permanent sway over the minds and  
consciences of sincere men and women4   
,we are allowing hundreds of millions of
 dollars of property to be insidiously  
withdrawn from the community1 and tied  

up in the hands of great corporations   
which in fifty or a hundred years will  
be the mere shells of soulless          
organizations4 ,we are making it        
possible for them to become our economic
 masters1 long after men and women shall
 have ceased to find spiritual nutriment
 in any part of their creeds4 ,by what  
species of casuistry does any person    
think it possible to put this forward as
 sane public policy8       ,o judgment1 
thou art fled to brutish beasts1        
,and men have lost their reason6        
,,truth ,,of ,,the ,,doctrine ,,is ,,no 
,,test4  ,if the argument has thus far  
been conducted from the standpoint of   
the outsider1 it is not intended to     
imply that the case against the         
exemption of church property from       
taxation rests in any fundamental way on
 the assumption that the teachings of   
,christianity or even the creeds of the 
churches are false4 ,on the contrary1   
every most material ground for          
condemnation of the practice in question

 would continue to be valid1 even if the
 truth of the ,christian doctrine were  
assumed as a starting-point4 ,my kingdom
 is not of this world1 is the express   
utterance put into the mouth of ,jesus  
by his biographer4 ,this obviously      
implies the principle of absolute       
religious liberty1 so far as the secular
 state is concerned4 ,the ,christ of the
 ,new ,testament disclaimed the         
intention of constraining the actions of
 unwilling followers4 ,even the man who 
had resolved to betray him was suffered 
to go forth in peace with the           
exhortation3 ,what thou doest1 do       
quickly4 ,in no part of his teaching is 
there warrant for religious domination  
of the state1 or for control over the   
private actions of individuals4 ,the    
only penalty for disobedience was       
withdrawal from the privilege of        
communion with him4 ,even the passage of
 dubious authenticity which smacks most 
of ecclesiastical judgment of the       
individual1 goes no farther than to     

prescribe excommunication from the      
fellowship of the saints4 ,let him be to
 thee as the ,gentile and the publican1 
involves at most no more than an        
injunction to withdraw personal         
companionship from the unworthy4 ,it is 
by man's own conscience and by the      
judgment of ,god in another world that  
,jesus expects evildoing to be punished4
 ,it never occurs to him to make        
religion a state affair4  ,nay1 it is   
possible to come closer home to the     
present subject4 ,unlike the church1    
which mutters ,lord1 ,lord1 but departs 
from his teaching and example whenever  
its convenience is promoted by doing so1
 ,jesus decided this very question on   
the side of honesty and justice4 ,when  
this exact issue was placed before him1 
he not only paid his taxes1 but plainly 
declared the duty of so doing1 even     
though the existing government was one  
imposed by aliens4 ,that1 unlike the    
church which mocks truth by misusing his
 name to cover its utter antagonism to  

all that was vital in his teachings1 he 
was so poor that he must needs work a   
miracle in order to obtain the tribute  
money1 in no way touches the point at   
issue4 ,the fact remains that he refused
 to take advantage of his exceptional   
position1 but set the example of paying 
his tax to organized society4 ,if the   
,lord of the church recognized the      
obligation of performing his civic duty1
 despite the fact that he was the       
exemplification of the religious        
principle1 by what right does his church
 make itself more highly privileged than
 its master1 and seek to set itself     
above the state8  ,,how ,,jesus ,,met   
,,the ,,demand ,,for ,,taxes4  ,not     
satisfied with example1 ,jesus is quoted
 as setting forth the principle         
specifically and unequivocally in plain 
words4 ,the representatives of ,judaism 
put the question to him plainly4 ,is it 
lawful to give tribute unto ,caesar1 or 
not8 ,there could be no dodging the     
issue4 ,they who inquired of him stood  

for the church of his period1 the church
 which he himself recognized as such4   
,they were intrusted1 said ,paul1 with  
the oracles of ,god4 ,jesus himself     
referred to their temple as the house of
 ,god1 and indignantly drove from its   
precincts the traders who sought to     
commercialize the sacred enclosure4 ,it 
was his custom to attend the synagogue1 
and occasionally to take an active part 
in the service4 ,if the ministers of    
sacred things are rightfully exempt from
 taxation1 the ,jewish nation1          
constituting as a whole a priesthood to 
,god1 as the channel of his revelation  
to man1 might surely1 from the          
standpoint of the faithful ,bible       
believer1 claim that exemption4 ,nor    
were indications wanting that they      
themselves felt so1 and looked upon it  
as blasphemy to assert the contrary4 ,in
 the hope to fasten a charge of either  
blasphemy on the one hand1 or sedition  
on the other1 on the wandering teacher1 
they eagerly awaited his answer4 ,when  

it came1 it was unanswerable4 ,render   
unto ,caesar the things that are        
,caesar's1 and unto ,god the things that
 are ,god's4 ,caesar was the lord of the
 coinage which bore his image and       
superscription1 ,god of the thoughts of 
their hearts and their private lives4   
,hence1 the former rightfully laid claim
 to the tribute which enabled the public
 treasury to carry on not only the work 
of the coinage1 but all other public    
works of a secular character2 while the 
latter would hold them in the end       
accountable for their failure to obey   
his commandments1 summed up in the      
injunction to love the ,lord thy ,god   
with all thy heart1 and with all thy    
soul1 and with all thy strength1 and    
with all thy mind2 and thy neighbor as  
thyself4  ,the difference between the   
,pharisees1 to whom ,jesus laid down the
 law in favor of the payment of honest  
taxes1 and the churches1 who are called 
upon to-day to perform this elementary  
civic obligation1 lies simply in the    

greater impudence of the latter4 ,the   
interlocutors of ,jesus1 says the text1 
marveled1 and left him1 and went away4  
,it is not stated that they proceeded to
 mend their ways1 and to become honest2 
but they at least had the decency not to
 attempt to bluff themselves out of a   
false position4 ,confronted with the    
same issue1 the churches of our time    
reject the commands of their alleged    
lord and master1 and consult only their 
own greed of profit4 ,they will cheat   
both ,caesar and ,god out of what is    
due4 ,that which they themselves        
hypocritically pretend to adore as the  
word of ,god they spit on in their      
actual performance1 by deliberate       
disobedience4 ,in spite of the almost   
unlimited capacity of human nature to   
deceive itself1 it is practically       
incredible that they can seriously      
believe in the puerile sophistry by     
which they seek to conjure up pretexts  
for stealing the public revenues4 ,the  
one plain reason is that they want the  

money1 and are not honest enough to do  
their duty to the state which shelters  
and fosters them4 ,they know this       
perfectly well1 however glib they may be
 in trying to persuade the credulous    
that in cheating the community out of   
part of its revenues they are actuated  
only by the highest and holiest motives1
 and that the fact that they happen to  
be beneficiaries of the steal is merely 
an irrelevant coincidence4 ,it is       
possible that there are still marines1  
to whom such a tale can be told4  ,in   
justice to sincere believers in         
,christianity1 who do not make their    
piety a cloak for greed and dishonesty1 
it should be stated that a conscientious
 minority in the churches has           
consistently accepted the principle of  
religious liberty and of equal justice  
and has steadily protested against every
 infringement of the secular principle1 
even when the abuse seemed to favor     
their own interests4  ,,america',s      
,,first ,,secularist4  ,the first great 

voice raised on these shores for the    
complete separation of church and state 
was that of the ,baptist preacher ,roger
 ,williams1 founder of the ,rhode       
,island colony1 which as a state has    
proved in the latter days one of the    
worst traitors to the spirit of         
democratic justice4 ,while the ,baptist 
church as a whole has become no more    
loyal to religious freedom than any     
other1 and has thus cheaply and basely  
surrendered its once glorious heritage1 
it has always embosomed individual      
members who could not forget that the   
founders of their sect suffered         
persecution to the death for proclaiming
 full freedom of conscience1 and for    
declaring that the state could not      
lawfully meddle with affairs of         
religion4 ,the ,rev4 ,dr4 ,alvah ,hovey1
 for many years head of the famous      
,newton 7,mass47 ,theological ,seminary1
 wrote more than one book in which the  
principles of ,secularism were          
proclaimed in full measure from the     

standpoint of orthodox religion1 and    
enforced by numberless arguments drawn  
from the ,bible and from theological    
lore4 ,the relatively small sect of     
,seventh ,day ,adventists is constantly 
active in fighting for the complete     
separation of church and state1         
maintaining with ardor that             
,christianity stands in no need of      
patronage from human government4        
,indeed1 it is amazing that any         
,christian1 who is not playing a part1  
but truly believes in the divine origin 
of his faith1 can come to any other     
conclusion4 ,if the church is of ,god1  
it will live and conquer1 though all men
 forsake it1 and needs not the feeble   
prop of political favor2 if it is of    
man1 and must therefore risk failure    
unless bolstered up by artificial aid   
and by state subsidy1 there is no reason
 why anybody not directly interested in 
its prosperity should wish to preserve  
it4 ,whether of ,god or of man1 it is in
 no legitimate sense the ward of the    

state4 ,in recent years1 numerous church
 members are beginning to have some     
inkling of these truths1 and to express 
their willingness to renounce the       
adulterous union with the politicians4  
,at the hearings before the ,committee  
on ,taxation of the ,new ,york          
,constitutional ,convention1 in ,june1  
#aiae1 for example1 preachers and       
laymen1 representatives of individual   
churches and of ,men's ,christian clubs1
 appeared in favor of abolishing the    
exemption from taxation enjoyed by the  
churches4 ,they did so1 not as enemies  
of the church1 but as its most          
far-sighted friends4 ,thoroughly        
believing in its divine mission1 they   
were convinced that it could not afford 
to make itself dependent on graft for   
its very life4  ,,the ,,genuine ,,should
 ,,be ,,conscientious4  ,from the       
,christian standpoint1 the argument     
against church exemption is as          
unanswerable as that from the standpoint
 of the independent citizen4 ,a sham    

,christian1 to whom the church is a     
means of getting ahead in the world1 and
 whose profession of faith is a cloak to
 cover his greed and egotism1 or a means
 of purchasing popularity and business  
success at any easy rate1 may find it   
natural to carry over into his religious
 life the spirit of commercialism with  
which he gouges his fellowmen every day 
in his business relations4 ,it is only  
natural that such a one should be       
impatient of any attempt to introduce   
ethical considerations into a question  
of self-advantage2 for to him it is     
axiomatic that any way of getting money 
without being arrested is good enough   
for himself and therefore good enough   
for the church1 honesty being merely a  
question of keeping out of the clutches 
of the police4 ,he is so ignorant of the
 very elements of morality that he does 
not even know that he is a hypocrite1   
and that the kind of thing which stands 
for religion to him is as worthless as  
the cheap varnish which constitutes his 

imaginary respectability4 ,to such as   
he1 church exemption is justified by the
 fact that the church is clever enough  
to get away with it4 ,a genuine believer
 in the ,christian revelation1 however1 
will wish the church1 as its divinely   
commissioned repository1 to keep itself 
unspotted from the world4 ,he will      
insist that1 so far from seeking its    
private advantage by questionable means1
 which may by casuistry be made to      
appear defensible1 it shall conceive of 
itself as a city set on a hill1 which   
cannot be hid1 and shall1 in all things 
and at any sacrifice1 let its light     
shine before men1 that by reason of its 
good works and spotless character it may
 prove that it is of ,god1 and not of   
men4 ,in case of doubt1 he will demand  
that it refuse to set an example whereby
 the weakest observer may be caused to  
stumble4  ,with a keener jealousy for   
its purity than that ascribed to the    
ancient ,roman1 who declared that       
,caesar's wife must be above suspicion1 

he will insist that it avoid the very   
appearance of evil4 ,such a believer    
will never be found in the halls of     
legislation1 howling for the loaves and 
fishes1 and asking that a secular state 
stultify itself by stealing money from  
its individual taxpayers1 in order to   
subsidize the proselytism of the sects4 
,and a church composed of such sincere  
believers will not give occasion to the 
enemy to blaspheme by evading its       
obligations through shallow quibbles    
about its moral influence in the        
community1 but will prefer to give a    
practical demonstration of its boasted  
moral quality by willingly paying its   
honest debts4  ,,the ,,church ,,harmed  
,,by ,,graft4  ,like all false          
principles1 the habit of accepting a    
subsidy from the state does not fail to 
bring harm to the church itself1 as the 
intelligent and high-minded among its   
friends are beginning to realize4 ,it is
 not with impunity that an individual or
 institution adopts parasitism as a     

basic condition of existence4 ,at the   
,new ,york hearing already referred to  
the ,rev4 ,charles ,t4 ,terry1 pastor of
 the ,brick ,presbyterian church of ,new
 ,york ,city1 did not hesitate to aver  
that the removal of the exemption graft 
would kill many churches4 ,a divinely   
ordained institution is indeed in a     
parlous state when it has no shame in   
confessing that it is dependent for its 
very life on the favor of the           
politicians1 its ,god having totally    
forsaken it4 ,such an organization is   
better dead4 ,if the alleged divine head
 of the church is not able or willing to
 preserve it1 in accordance with his    
emphatic promise1 even unto the end of  
the world1 it is plain either that his  
promises are spurious1 and hence the    
whole ,christian fabric rests upon      
imposture and deserves to perish2 or    
that the church which fails for lack of 
divine aid is a pretender and not the   
real body of believers whom he is       
pledged never to forsake4 ,let those    

so-called ,christians1 who cling        
frantically to the legislature instead  
of to ,christ for the preservation of   
the agency for preaching his gospel1    
take which horn of the dilemma they     
please4  ,every form of union with the  
state has not merely made of the church 
an instrument of oppression by reason of
 its preferred position and the         
artificial power thus conferred on it1  
but has been poison to the church       
itself4 ,its political alliance         
invariably sullies whatever primitive   
purity it may be believed to possess4   
,no person having faith in its spiritual
 mission and anxiety to see it kept     
unspotted from the world and faithful to
 its high calling can fail to oppose    
every entangling alliance which may tend
 to corrupt it in even the smallest     
degree4 ,in theory1 the church should be
 purged of all motives of self-interest1
 and devoted solely to the good of      
mankind4 ,exemption from taxation and   
the lobbying necessary to maintain this 

special privilege infallibly defeat its 
alleged aims4 ,in the scramble for      
political favors1 it learns the tricks  
of practical politics at the expense of 
the unselfish devotion by which alone it
 could justify its claims to spiritual  
leadership4 ,it gains material wealth at
 the cost of its own higher purpose4 ,it
 unconsciously learns to regard money as
 the chief object of attainment1 and to 
compromise its sterner principles for   
self-advantage4 ,facilis descensus      
,averno is the motto over its downward  
path4  ,,arming ,,church ,,opponents4   
,even if the church could1 by some      
miracle which has never yet been        
vouchsafed to it1 retain its purity of  
character while remaining the recipient 
of state graft1 the crippling of its    
influence would continue4 ,if it wishes 
to win the world to its gospel1 it does 
ill to put the most potent of arguments 
in the mouths of its enemies4 ,let      
,christians make no mistake on this     
point4 ,so long as the church continues 

to mulct the taxpayers for its own      
profit through the exemption of its     
property from taxation1 it will be held 
by the multitude to give the lie to its 
own professions2 and it will drive      
thousands of earnest seekers for truth  
away from its doors4 ,we do not go to a 
thief for lessons in the higher         
morality4 ,if rejection of the          
,christian message means the loss of    
immortal souls1 their destruction lies  
on the heads of those representatives of
 ,christianity who prize a few dollars  
stolen from the people at a higher rate 
than the privilege of coming forward    
with clean hands1 and being listened to 
with respect and in a teachable spirit  
by those whose ears are now sealed      
against the admission of the gospel     
message by their unconquerable distrust 
and contempt for those who come with    
lessons of moral and spiritual uplift1  
but whose hands are tainted by the      
acceptance of graft from politicians who
 never give without expecting an        

equivalent in return4 ,in receiving this
 dishonest money the church is not only 
guilty of an immoral act1 but is        
legitimately subject to many suspicions 
of unworthy conduct of which it may be  
innocent1 but which it has debarred     
itself from being in a position to      
refute4 ,it has thus tied its own hands 
with reference to its real work of      
benefiting the spiritual natures of     
human beings4 ,whether the teachings of 
,christianity are true or false1 the    
adulterous union of church and state    
creates a reasonable and just bias      
against them1 and prevents them from    
having a fair hearing4 ,those who       
believe that the eternal salvation of   
mankind hangs on the acceptance of these
 teachings are1 from their own          
standpoint1 incurring a fearful         
responsibility in placing so huge a     
stumbling-block in the way of inquiring 
minds4 ,they have no reply1 and can only
 hang their heads in shame1 when we     
outsiders sharply demand what value a   

religion can have for mankind if it     
cannot breed common honesty even in the 
institution which embodies it and which 
has no other function than to spread its
 teachings4  ,,chief ,,defense ,,of     
,,church ,,subsidies4  ,since no corrupt
 condition has ever wanted for          
apologists1 it is not surprising that   
self-interest has prompted many voluble 
spokesmen for the churches to cast about
 for plausible arguments in favor of a  
system by which they fatten on avoidance
 of responsibility4 ,while most of such 
attempts to excuse the inexcusable have 
already been refuted in advance1 a brief
 summary of those currently employed is 
desirable1 as revealing their utter     
ineptitude4 ,in practically every case1 
it becomes self-evident that they are   
not the true reasons for church         
exemption1 but worked up by way of      
afterthought4 ,having already decided to
 rob us1 on quite other grounds1 our    
plunderers sit down to devise specious  
phrases which may serve to cajole their 

victims4 ,in reality1 the exemption of  
church property from taxation is1 of    
course1 a survival from the times when  
it was frankly regarded as the duty of  
the state to support the church and to  
enforce the dogmas of religion4 ,this   
medieval view having passed away1 so far
 as the enlightened members of the      
community are concerned1 the subsidizing
 of the church by the state should have 
perished with it2 but since the churches
 do not wish to lose their easy money1  
they have manufactured pretexts for the 
continuance of the favoritism to which  
they are self-evidently not entitled in 
a land and an age of religious liberty  
and equality4  ,the chief defense of    
church graft is based on the claim that 
religion is the supreme moral agency of 
the community4 ,this argument is found  
in many forms1 and is highly elaborated 
by those who put it forward4 ,boiled    
down1 it expresses the point of view    
that the church is a voluntary adjunct  
of the police power2 that it lessens    

crime1 and therefore directly saves     
expense and trouble to society1 for     
which exemption from taxation is only a 
reasonable return4 ,in part1 this       
argument has already been tested and    
found valueless4 ,the church claims a   
kingdom1 which is not of this world1 and
 its main business is to create subjects
 for that kingdom4 ,to receive          
salvation1 faith is all-essential1 moral
 character being subsidiary4 ,a single  
act of penitence may atone for a        
lifetime of crime4 ,the great work of   
the church is to develop faith1 without 
which the righteous deeds of the purest 
and best man on earth are nothing but   
filthy rags4 ,the vilest murderer1      
converted under the fear of being       
presently precipitated into a yawning   
hell1 and having no further opportunity 
to enjoy life on this earth1 may pass   
directly from the gallows or the        
electric chair to the bosom of ,jesus1  
while his innocent victim1 struck       
suddenly dead without a chance to       

reflect on possibilities beyond the     
grave1 has sunk to everlasting perdition
 in spite of possessing a character     
above reproach4 ,is this the form of    
doctrine calculated to raise the moral  
tone of the community8 ,let it not be   
replied that this is the antiquated     
theology which the liberal and most of  
the orthodox churches have long since   
outgrown4 ,on the contrary1 it is the   
teaching of the entire ,roman ,catholic 
church and of the largest section of the
 ,protestant church4 ,in its coarsest   
and crudest form1 it has in our own day 
been preached to huge audiences from one
 end of the country to the other by the 
spectacular evangelist1 ,billy ,sunday1 
as the only true ,christianity2 and this
 otherwise negligible religious         
mountebank has received the explicit    
endorsement of the principal evangelical
 organizations and an overwhelming      
majority of the orthodox preachers in   
every one of the largest and a multitude
 of the lesser cities of our land4 ,the 

churches in which this repulsive and    
vicious doctrine is taught receive much 
the larger share of the benefit from tax
 exemption4  ,,double ,,price ,,for     
,,salvation4  ,but from a social point  
of view the case is even more serious4  
,it is not the most intellectual and    
refined classes which even the wildest  
zealot will claim to stand in special   
need of religion to restrain them from  
crime and from all forms of conduct     
calculated to injure their neighbors in 
the community1 but the most ignorant and
 crude2 and it is precisely these latter
 types which remain totally impervious  
to highly developed forms of religious  
expression1 and throng to the ,catholic 
cathedrals and the revival meetings of  
the ,billy ,sundays and ,gipsy ,smiths1 
where belief is emphasized above        
integrity of character4 ,just those     
persons who may be assumed to need      
whatever ethical element is to be found 
in religion are those who receive the   
least of it4 ,if1 in spreading its      

gospel of faith and obedience to        
ecclesiastical superiors1 the churches  
incidentally lead an occasional         
individual to a more honest and upright 
social life1 this result is simply a    
by-product of the religious operation1  
and creates no claim on the state4 ,in  
reclaiming the down-fallen1 the church  
wins another supporter for itself1 and  
adds a soul to the kingdom4 ,in seeking 
a subsidy from the state1 it foregoes   
its higher pretensions1 and seeks to be 
paid double for a work which it         
undertook on its own account4 ,if it is 
part of the function of the church to   
teach morality1 so is it part of the    
function of the home2 and in the average
 decent home there is much more         
specific1 concrete and effective        
teaching of good morals1 brought closely
 home to the individual1 than there is  
in the best of churches4 ,yet the home  
does not claim exemption from taxation  
because of its moral influence4 ,as has 
been suggested elsewhere1 the argument  

as to moral influence speedily leads to 
a reductio ad absurdum1 implying1 as it 
does1 that all taxes should be raised   
from the vicious and immoral elements in
 the community--that criminals should be
 the only taxpayers1 or that taxes      
should be levied on citizens and        
institutions in inverse ratio to the    
moral character and ethical influence of
 each6 ,every legitimate enterprise of  
any description exercises a wholesome   
moral influence in the community1 and   
directly benefits society in one way or 
another2 and the church1 even taking it 
at its own valuation1 is but one of many
 institutions which1 while existing     
primarily for ends of their own1 are    
incidentally of benefit to society as a 
whole4 ,why should it be the only one to
 demand a favoritism incompatible with  
self-respect or with justice to its     
fellows8 ,the question as to the        
exemption of educational1 charitable and
 certain other institutions need not    
here be raised to confuse the issue4    

,each of these must be settled on its   
own merits4 ,it is enough to suggest    
that where their primary function1 like 
that of the church1 is something with   
which the state is not directly         
concerned1 they fall in the same        
category1 and have no right to any      
subsidy4 ,where1 however1 their entire  
work is directed toward meeting a       
recognizedly collective need1 which the 
state finds it less practical or        
satisfactory to discharge in a more     
direct manner1 exemption from taxation  
is properly invoked as an indirect means
 of accomplishing the social end4 ,the  
impropriety of exempting any sectarian  
or partisan institution results from the
 entire argument herein contained4 ,as  
to non-partisan and non-sectarian       
institutions1 the question of propriety 
is one of fact1 to be determined by the 
best public judgment in accordance with 
the foregoing principle4  ,,belief ,,and
 ,,criminality4  ,while the argument has
 thus far proceeded on the assumption   

that the church1 in spite of certain    
questionable teachings1 is to be taken  
at its own valuation as a moral agency1 
fidelity to truth demands the plain     
statement of the fact that such definite
 particulars as are available fail to   
bear out the claims so positively put   
forward4 ,this is especially true of our
 criminal statistics4 ,even on the most 
generous calculations1 the church       
membership of the country embraces      
considerably less than half of the      
population4 ,if the church were so      
powerful a moral factor as its          
supporters declare it to be1 we should  
expect to find the average criminal a   
wholly irreligious being1 with no       
contact or sympathy with the doctrines  
of ,christianity4 ,what we actually     
observe is that of all the criminals in 
penitentiaries in this country1 not less
 than #ge per cent1 are of ,christian   
antecedents and profess a belief in     
religious dogmas2 while the number of   
,christian preachers convicted of crime 

is so large as to be almost incredible1 
in spite of the fact that most cases of 
minor clerical offenses and some of the 
more serious ones are systematically    
hushed up1 to avoid public scandal for  
the church499       99 ,see ,religion   
and ,roguery1 by ,franklin ,steiner4    
,price #aj      cents4 ,for sale by ,the
 ,truth ,seeker ,co4 ,also ,crimes of   
,preachers1 for sale by the same4       
,price1 #ce cents1  ,benefit of clergy1 
though theoretically as obsolete as it  
is inexcusable in a secular democracy1  
is known to all who are on the inside to
 be a tangible fact in our land today4  
,it is one of the forms of indecent     
favoritism of which the church and its  
agents are always eager to avail        
themselves4 ,in any one of the annual   
reports of the ,society for the         
,suppression of ,vice1 the reader may   
observe that the late ,anthony          
,comstock1 though an excessively pious  
,christian and hater of all forms of    
unbelief1 bears reluctant testimony in  

tabular form to the overwhelming        
preponderance of religious offenders    
among those whose convictions he has    
secured4 ,for example1 the total number 
of arrests for crimes against the       
obscenity and lottery laws from ,march1 
#ahgb1 to ,january1 #aiae1 was #c1fda4  
,of these 7annual report for #aiad7     
#ajgh were ,jews1 #ifd ,catholics1 #ied 
,protestants1 and #efd of no known      
religion1 leaving only #hj to be        
distributed among the several classes of
 ,freethinkers1 ,spiritualists and      
heathen4 ,the figures speak for         
themselves4 ,turning from statistics to 
scientific criminology1 we find abundant
 confirmation of the close relation     
between religion and crime4 ,so far from
 being a restraint1 religious faith of a
 very intense sort is commonly found    
closely associated with criminal        
tendencies1 and is one of the most      
marked characteristics of the typical   
criminal4 ,this conclusion1 unpalatable 
though it is to the defenders of the    

churches1 is irrefutably proven valid by
 the most competent observers4 7,see    
,the ,criminal1 by ,havelock ,ellis1    
fourth edition1 pages #ahe-aij1 with    
facts and citations from ,ferri1        
,garofalo1 ,casanova1 et al47 ,let it   
not be thought that the writer is here  
attempting to prove that religion is a  
frequent cause of crime4 ,it is enough  
to show that it is practically          
inoperative as an inhibition4 ,the many 
good men and women who are also pious   
put the cart before the horse in        
crediting their religion with their     
moral character4 ,whatever ethical      
elements the higher forms of religion   
contain in theory1 it is not these on   
which the incidence is laid in religious
 teaching or in the performance of      
religious ceremonies4 ,consequently1 no 
matter how much is said in the churches 
of righteousness1 as an observed        
sociological fact religion has little to
 do with it1 one way or the other4 ,the 
good man or woman1 on becoming          

religious1 remains good2 the bad man or 
woman does not cease to be bad because  
of possessing a strong religious faith  
and participating in religious          
exercises4 ,those who have been both    
virtuous and religious all their lives  
would have been no less virtuous if they
 had never heard of religion4 ,even the 
tyro in the study of the evolution of   
religious belief knows that primitive   
forms of religion are entirely void of  
ethical content4 ,the moral imperative  
is a gradual development of the social  
instinct2 while the religious instinct  
is the reaction of the individual to    
external influences which inspire him1  
in his ignorance of their real nature   
and of their subjection to iron laws of 
cause and effect1 with fear and wonder4 
7,admiration1 gratitude for imagined    
favors1 hope for protection and support1
 and other forms of mental or emotional 
reaction1 come somewhat later1 and are  
efficient in reshaping the primitive    
phases of religion into more specific   

conceptions of anthropomorphic deities47
 ,in the course of time1 it becomes     
natural that the worshiper of beings    
above himself1 to whom his supreme      
reverence is due1 should come to endow  
those beings with the highest qualities 
he is capable of conceiving1 and hence  
should represent them as authors of the 
moral law which has become an ingrained 
part of his personal and social         
existence4 ,yet it remains a fact with  
both the savage and the civilized man   
that his moral conceptions change from  
age to age1 and that his attribution of 
any particular ethical mandate to his   
deity is always an afterthought4 ,in    
other words1 both in general and in     
detail1 morality caused and determined  
by social needs and the growth of the   
social spirit precedes morality under a 
religious sanction1 and would persist1  
even if all forms of religion should be 
annihilated4 ,the church does not create
 moral standards for the community1 but 
is at most a register of them4 ,without 

the church1 it is probable that few     
individuals would be either more or less
 moral than with it2 they would simply  
use other terms in which to interpret   
their moral sentiments to themselves and
 others4 ,there need then be no fear of 
the consequences of recalling the       
churches to the exercise of common      
honesty4 ,as recipients of graft1 they  
can certainly not claim to exemplify the
 morality which they profess to teach4  
,such of them as cannot live without    
theft from the taxpayers are better     
dead1 since their dependence on         
dishonesty for existence must more than 
nullify any conceivable good which they 
can do the community by the hollow      
mockery of teaching a morality which    
they do not practice4 ,on the other     
hand1 such churches as find it possible 
to live on an honorable basis1 without  
claiming a subsidy1 will stand some     
chance of being listened to when they   
seek to preach morality to others4      
,,institutional ,,work ,,not ,,menaced4 

,it is further claimed that the church  
is directly engaged in social and       
philanthropic activities1 which would   
become sorely crippled by a forced      
diminution of revenue4 ,advocates of    
this view have declared that the church 
is specially fitted for many branches of
 social service1 being able to command  
invaluable volunteer assistance1 which  
the state could not hire at any price4  
,hence they conclude that the           
elimination of the churches would throw 
on the state a burden far in excess of  
the amount now conceded to these        
institutions in exemption from taxation4
  ,it will be seen that the foregoing   
claim of the church rests entirely on   
assumptions of the most gratuitous      
nature4 ,in the first place1 only a     
minority of the churches are of the     
institutional order1 and practically    
engaged in social welfare work2 and in  
the exemption laws no distinction is    
made between this minority and the large
 majority of churches which render no   

such public service4 ,in fact1 the law  
works entirely in favor of the parasitic
 churches1 the mere accumulators of     
wealth4 ,the institutional churches     
attract to themselves the support of    
individuals who wish to see the work    
done1 and who will stand by them to any 
extent needed2 while the other class of 
ecclesiastical bodies1 which exist      
mainly for the promulgation of effete   
dogmas1 lean on the state for a much    
larger proportion of their total        
revenue4 ,with state help1 they fatten  
and become rich2 while the few          
socialized churches spend their revenues
 as fast as they come in4 ,the repeal of
 exemption laws would not kill any      
churches which are doing a work felt in 
the community to be one of public       
necessity2 it is the socially useless   
churches which would be forced to       
perish1 if they could not win sufficient
 voluntary support by showing some      
indication of deserving it4 ,the fallacy
 that the repeal of exemption laws means

 the killing of the institutional       
churches or the crippling of their work 
is a most glaring one4  ,it is further  
not true that the supporters of the     
social work now done through the higher 
type of churches would lose all interest
 in it if the church were to disappear  
from the scene4 ,such a claim is an     
insult to human nature and a fatal      
confession with reference to the quality
 of the religion which is thus assumed  
to teach its followers to labor only for
 the sake of the church and not for the 
love of mankind4 ,the desire to minister
 to social needs1 found among the nobler
 men and women of all forms of faith and
 of unbelief1 would persist in          
undiminished degree4 ,if the church were
 gone1 it would simply use other        
channels through which to work4 ,they   
would likewise be joined by others1 who 
cannot conscientiously assist in the    
promulgation of dogmas they consider    
false and pernicious1 even though the   
doctrinal teaching is subtly            

interblended with philanthropic work2   
and by still others1 whose earnestly    
proffered services are rejected by the  
religious bodies1 because1 although     
eager to help in social service1 they   
cannot pronounce the doctrinal          
shibboleths of ecclesiasticism4 ,the    
spontaneous response of men and women to
 proven human need has been demonstrated
 again and again1 and never more than   
during the great world war1 in the      
immense sums of money and quantities of 
needful articles eagerly proffered and  
the vast amount of personal service     
freely rendered1 sometimes at the risk  
or cost of life itself1 to alleviate the
 sufferings of military and civil       
victims resident in alien lands and     
totally unknown to the millions of      
volunteer helpers4 ,no church activity  
was needed to stir all this active and  
uncalculating benevolence into life2 and
 none is required to arouse the higher  
sentiment in the community to co-operate
 in combating its poverty1 illness and  

degradation4  ,,the ,,church ,,shows    
,,ulterior ,,motives4  ,moreover1 the   
church is far from being the best agent 
for the carrying on of social service4  
,the trouble is that it has its own axe 
to grind4 ,its eye is not single to the 
relief of human suffering1 but it has   
also to think of converting the         
sufferers to its creed4 ,it is          
constantly tempted to play upon the     
gratitude of those whom it helps1 to    
induce their attendance at its services1
 if not to dragoon these helpless       
dependents into an outward expression of
 belief4 ,even where it does not        
discriminate against non-believers in   
its creed1 or seek in any way to abuse  
its position in order to proselyte them 
directly1 it too often does its alms to 
be seen of men1 and turns its social    
work into a huge advertising scheme1    
after the fashion of an ostentatiously  
philanthropic ,rockefeller1 who gives   
with one hand and with the utmost       
publicity about one-hundredth part of   

what he extorts from the masses with the
 other hand4 ,at best1 its activities   
are such as to generate a reasonable    
suspicion that its aims are not wholly  
pure1 nor its work of unmixed quality2  
and the net result is not a wholesome   
one4  ,for the best good of the         
community1 social service needs to be   
entirely divorced from dogma1 whether   
performed by the state as part of its   
duty towards its members1 or by private 
individuals or groups as a voluntary    
effort to lessen the sorrows and evils  
of humanity4 ,if the church insists on  
doing a part of this community work1 let
 it1 like others engaged in such work1  
do so at its own cost4 ,if it is sincere
 in its wish to help mankind1 it will   
not balk at this condition2 if not1 it  
betrays the selfishness of its aims4    
,the argument in favor of exempting from
 taxation organizations doing nothing   
but philanthropic work1 and organized   
for no other purpose1 cannot be         
honorably stretched to embrace bodies   

formed to propagate particular creeds1  
which simply take on philanthropic      
activities as a side line4 ,if this were
 otherwise1 every factory which         
introduces a welfare department should  
by a parity of argument immediately have
 all its property exempted from         
contribution to the public revenues4    
,,churches ,,as ,,enhancers ,,of ,,real 
,,estate ,,values4  ,the curious        
argument has sometimes been urged that  
churches raise the value of adjacent    
property1 and should therefore escape   
taxation4 ,if this be indeed a fact1 it 
proves either nothing to the purpose or 
a great deal too much for the comfort of
 those who put it forward4 ,it is       
difficult to see why the taxpayers of an
 entire city should reward the church   
for enriching the few property-owners   
canny enough to secure land adjoining   
clerically owned property4 ,by merely   
increasing the value of certain pieces  
of property at the expense of land less 
fortunately located1 the community as a 

whole is not made a substantial gainer4 
,even taking the most favorable view1 it
 is certain that the unearned increment 
of the property adjoining the church    
will never rise so high as to           
overbalance the total value of the      
church property withdrawn from taxation2
 and hence the encouraging of           
church-building by tax exemption must   
represent a net financial loss to the   
community4 ,moreover1 every improvement 
on land increases the value of          
neighboring property2 hence the         
argument1 if valid at all1 warrants the 
exemption of all improvements from      
taxation1 and the equal taxation of all 
land values1 whether the land is built  
on by churches or otherwise utilized1 or
 left wholly unimproved4  ,the fact     
should also be recognized that to many  
the existence of churches adjacent to   
their property is anything but a        
benefit4 ,so far from regarding the     
value of their property as increased by 
the coming of a church1 many an owner   

will resent the intrusion1 and sell out 
at a loss1 rather than be exposed to    
some of the features of church activity 
in his immediate vicinity4 ,to many1 the
 ringing of church bells is an          
intolerable nuisance and a positive     
grievance4 ,the collection of crowds1   
even of the most decorous nature1 is    
most objectionable to others4 ,in ,new  
,york and other cities1 property in     
certain sections is highly restricted by
 deeds which provide against the        
erection of churches1 no less than of   
livery stables and other structures     
considered undesirable in a residential 
neighborhood4 ,real estate men do not   
bear out the claim that the inevitable  
or even the usual result of the erection
 of churches is to increase the value of
 property in the vicinity4  ,,sophistry 
,,at ,,the ,,new ,,york ,,hearing4  ,the
 weakness of the case for the exemption 
of church property is apparent from the 
fact that the foregoing easily refuted  
claims represent substantially the      

entire case in its favor4 ,at the ,new  
,york hearing of #aiae1 and at all other
 hearings before the various legislative
 bodies of our land1 they have been the 
only points on which stress was sought  
to be laid4 ,incidentally1 of course1   
minor assertions have been made1 such as
 the alleged fact that the church is a  
public utility1 in the maintenance of   
which the community has a direct        
interest4 ,this plea1 on which small    
reliance is usually placed1 has been    
fully disposed of by the analysis on a  
preceding page of the function of the   
church4 ,sometimes attention is called  
to the apparent preponderance of        
interest in favor of exemption1 as      
witnessed by the number of speakers who 
appear in its favor at committee        
hearings and by the number and size of  
the organizations which they represent4 
,this is obviously the most transparent 
sophistry4 ,principles are not to be    
gauged by numbers4 ,a country in which  
the mob may dispose at its lightest whim

 of the rights and liberties of the     
individual or of the minority is a land 
of tyranny1 and cannot prosper in the   
end4 ,moreover1 the alleged             
preponderance does not even prove that  
the majority of the citizens are in     
favor of the special privilege          
dishonestly demanded by the churches4   
,it merely furnishes fresh evidence of  
the well-known fact that parties with   
special interests to be subserved by    
class legislation will organize more    
efficiently than those appearing for the
 general interest of the citizens1 but  
not backed by powerful existing         
organizations well supplied with funds  
and having much to gain or lose in a    
financial way by the passage or defeat  
of the proposed legislation4 ,it is hard
 to stir up popular interest to the     
point of action in matters that involve 
the civic conscience4 ,nevertheless1 the
 people are slowly awakening to a       
realization of the iniquity of the      
manner in which the churches1 for their 

own profit1 have played upon the        
religious emotions of those under their 
influence2 and a day of reckoning is    
imminent4 ,the sentiment in behalf of   
the repeal of the dishonest exemption   
laws is growing continually stronger1   
and must finally become irresistible4   
,it has sometimes been asserted that    
precedent is against the taxing of      
churches4 ,at the ,new ,york hearing1   
this was gravely put forth by a         
,presbyterian preacher as a serious     
argument2 and he sought to dismiss the  
proposition by cavalierly remarking that
 it was part of the present craze for   
new taxes of all sorts4 ,his deliverance
 was echoed by a lawyer hired to        
represent ,grace ,episcopal church1 the 
church which showed its moral standards 
by cheating its architect out of his fee
 on a contemptible legal technicality4  
,i am old-fashioned enough1 remarked the
 lawyer1 metaphorically patting himself 
on the back for his astute appeal to    
religious prejudice1 to believe that the

 house of ,god should not be taxed4 ,in 
other words1 whatever is1 is right4 ,no 
old abuse must ever be abolished1 and   
every new idea must be wrong4 ,could    
there be a finer admission that the bent
 of the churchly trained mind is against
 all progress1 and prone to resist      
change merely because it is new8        
,,confessed ,,treason ,,to ,,american   
,,principles4  ,the defenders of church 
graft never fail in the end to reveal   
their real position4 ,at no public      
hearing has it ever happened that the   
shrewder representatives of the church  
were able to restrain their less subtle 
colleagues from avowing their disbelief 
in the separation of church and state1  
and their conviction that the government
 should consider the support of religion
 as part of its business4 ,the important
 hearing so often quoted had several    
such confessions of treason to ,american
 principles4 ,the ,rev4 ,charles ,t4    
,terry of the ,brick ,presbyterian      
church of ,new ,york city1 when asked   

whether he would think it proper for the
 state to appropriate money directly for
 the support of the churches1 since     
exemption was but an indirect way of    
accomplishing the same result1          
completely missed the object of the     
question1 and instead of attempting to  
distinguish the two methods in principle
 calmly assumed that there could be no  
question of impropriety in either1 and  
explained that he preferred the         
exemption method as more dignified4 ,if 
he had been entirely frank1 he might    
have confessed his doubt whether a      
direct theft from the taxpayers would be
 tolerated in this enlightened period4  
,the ,american churches would be only   
too glad to adopt the ,english method of
 open and unabashed robbery of          
dissenting citizens for the support of  
the churches in whose doctrines they do 
not believe4 ,this1 however1 has become 
an impossibility4  ,in our colonial     
period we passed through the mental     
condition in which church and state were

 considered as one1 and neglect of      
religious duty was punished as an       
offense against the community4 ,in      
default of a return to those days1 so   
blessed in the view of the enemies of   
religious liberty1 the churches are     
willing to accept the indirect          
contribution of the state to their      
private expenses incurred in the        
interest of sectarian proselytism4 ,true
 ,americanism1 however1 finds no logical
 distinction between the one method and 
the other4 ,a difference of degree may  
exist1 but not one of kind4  ,the ,rev4 
,dr4 ,d4 ,c4 ,potter99 of ,brooklyn1 who
 attended the hearing1 scorned to argue 
with unbelievers in any way except by   
ejaculations4 ,he fairly screeched his  
horror of the idea that anybody should  
propose to tax the house of ,god4 ,the  
finely-spun fallacies of his colleagues1
 who talked of the social services of   
the churches and their alleged          
protection to the community from a flood
 of vice and crime1 went down in the    

wind before his anguished yells at the  
thought that religious liberty and the  
separation of church and state were in  
danger of becoming complete realities in
 a democracy nominally pledged to the   
unwavering support of these great       
principles4 ,in the same spirit1 ,herman
 ,metz1 a politician and former         
officeholder1 irrelevantly remarked that
 the plea that non-churchgoers should   
not be forced to meet the expenses of an
 institution which is of no value to    
them is like the objection to paying    
taxes for schools if we happen to have  
no children1 or for the fire department 
if our house has never been on fire6    
,the utter lack of distinction between  
the ministering to private wants and the
 performance of a public function would 
do discredit to an imbecile4 ,still     
worse1 because less excusable1 was the  
assertion of ,nicholas ,murray ,butler1 
president of ,columbia ,university1 a   
man of education and formal culture1    
that a person who did not believe in    

religion should be taxed to support the 
churches just as an ,anarchist should be
 taxed to support the government6 ,with 
greater suavity and shrewdness1 but no  
less indifference to historic fact and  
democratic principle1 ,william ,d4      
,guthrie1 appearing as attorney for the 
,roman ,catholic interests1 rejected the
 easy way out of pretending that the    
churches subserved some civic function1 
and defended their claims on the ground 
that immemorial practice sanctioned the 
exemption graft4 ,in other words1 a     
wrong becomes right1 an abuse a virtue1 
if it is only continued long enough6    
,mr4 ,guthrie went so far as to assert  
that ,christianity is part of the common
 law of the land4 ,if this be true1 our 
case even yet is not hopeless1 for the  
common law of ,england1 from which      
,american jurisprudence is derived1 did 
not drop down from heaven as a sacred   
deposit1 forever perfect and            
unchangeable4 ,as a matter of fact1 most
 of it has long since been superseded by

 the constitutional law of the nation   
and the states1 and by innumerable      
statutes4 ,from the moment of the       
adoption of our ,federal ,constitution1 
expressly forbidding an establishment of
 religion1 ,christianity1 whatever its  
status under the common law1 ceased to  
form an integral part of the law of the 
,united ,states1 and became simply one  
of many forms of private belief1 the    
relative number of its adherents being  
totally immaterial4 ,in the treaty with 
,tripoli1 secured during the            
administration of ,george ,washington1  
our first great ,president placed his   
signature to the specific statement that
 the government of this land is in no   
sense founded on the ,christian         
religion4 ,the forenamed gentlemen1 one 
and all1 far from lending strength to   
their cause by invoking the outworn     
traditions of the past and by appealing 
to the brute force of religious bigotry 
against the equal civic rights of all   
citizens1 have turned state's evidence  

against their accomplices by the        
unthinking confession that the case for 
church exemption rests in the last      
analysis on treason to the ,constitution
 and to the principle of separation of  
church and state4 ,when the enemies of  
religious liberty and the rights of man 
thus come out in their true colors we   
know how to meet them4 ,it is the       
insidious method of seeking to shelter  
church graft under pretensions of the   
common weal that is able to deceive the 
public for a time4       99 ,see ,crimes
 of ,preachers4  ,,church ,,and ,,state 
,,in ,,american ,,history4  ,our fight  
against church graft is not new1 for    
through the ages of human history men   
slow in learning the lesson of equal    
liberty have made this warfare          
inevitable4 ,even those honestly        
desirous to be fair have found it easy  
to cheat themselves with convenient     
sophistry1 and to frame fantastic       
reasons for deeming the public weal     
inseparably bound up with their         

particular group of dogmas1 so that the 
good of mankind must require the        
submission of dissenters to the popular 
creed4 ,that the whole community should 
be forced to support the church appeared
 axiomatic to the ,new ,england of      
,governor ,bradford1 ,cotton ,mather and
 ,jonathan ,edwards4 ,the settlement of 
,rhode ,island by ,roger ,williams and  
his associates1 on the basis of complete
 religious liberty1 was the first event 
to startle ,puritanism into a           
realization that the right of the church
 to control the state was not as        
self-evident as had been thought4 ,later
 were heard bold voices to demand that  
the church take its proper position in  
the community as a voluntary body of    
believers1 free to worship in its own   
fashion1 and leaving all others free to 
do likewise or not to worship at all4   
,and finally the foremost and boldest   
thinkers began to see that there could  
be no equal justice while unbelievers   
were mulcted in taxation to support the 

churches4 ,one of the first protests    
against the wrong which still prevails1 
although now disguised under the form of
 exemption1 took the shape of a memorial
 to the general court 7legislature7 of  
,massachusetts in #agge4 ,the core of   
the argument is contained in the        
following paragraph3  ,for a civil      
legislature to impose religious tax is1 
we conceive1 a power which their        
constituents never had to give1 and     
therefore going entirely out of their   
jurisdiction4 ,we are persuaded that an 
entire freedom from being taxed by civil
 rulers to religious worship is not a   
mere favor from any man or men in the   
world1 but a right and property granted 
us by ,god1 who commands us to stand    
fast to it4 ,we should wrong our        
consciences by allowing that power to   
men which we believe belongs only to    
,god4  ,in the same spirit1 the pious   
and learned ,rev4 ,dr4 ,wayland1 in his 
,political ,economy1 wrote3  ,all that  
religious societies have a right to ask 

of the civil government is the same     
privileges for transacting their own    
affairs which societies of every other  
sort possess4 ,this they have a right to
 demand1 not because they are religious 
societies1 but because the exercise of  
religion is an innocent mode of pursuing
 happiness4 ,if it happens accidentally 
that others are benefited1 it does not  
follow that they are obliged to pay for 
this benefit4 ,it cannot be proved that 
the ,christian religion needs the       
support of the civil government1 since  
it has existed and flourished when      
entirely deprived of this support4  ,,an
 ,,opinion ,,by ,,franklin4  ,after the 
theologian1 the philosopher4 ,these are 
the words of the truth-loving friend of 
justice1 ,benjamin ,franklin3  ,when a  
religion is good1 ,i conceive that it   
will support itself2 and when it cannot 
support itself1 and ,god does not take  
care to support it1 so its professors   
are obliged to call for help from the   
civil power1 it is a sign1 ,i apprehend1

 of its being a bad one4  ,the soundness
 of ,franklin's test cannot be          
successfully disputed4 ,if the churches 
must look to the state1 instead of to   
their ,god1 for continued life and      
prosperity1 it is a sign1 indisputable  
as a voice from heaven1 that they are   
not divinely commissioned1 but are      
impostors4 ,the demand for exemption    
from taxation is a confession of lost   
spiritual values4  ,,what ,,grant ,,and 
,,garfield ,,said4  ,two presidents of  
the ,united ,states1 braving            
ecclesiastical censure1 have had the    
moral courage to speak out on the       
present question4 ,one of them1 the     
heroic ,grant1 was heretical in his     
religious views2 the other1 the martyred
 ,garfield1 was an orthodox ,christian1 
and had been a clergyman and president  
of a religious college4 ,in ,grant's    
presidential message in #ahge1 he said3 
,in connection with this important      
question1 ,i would also call your       
attention to the importance of          

correcting an evil that1 if permitted to
 continue1 will probably lead to great  
trouble in our land before the close of 
the nineteenth century4 ,it is the      
acquisition of vast amounts of untaxed  
church property4 ,in #ahej1 ,i believe1 
the church property of the ,united      
,states1 which paid no tax1 municipal or
 state1 amounted to #hg1jjj1jjj4 ,in    
#ahfj the amount had doubled4 ,in #ahgj 
it was #ced1dhc1ehg4 ,by #aijj1 without 
a check1 it is safe to say1 this        
property will reach a sum exceeding     
#c1jjj1jjj1jjj4 ,so vast a sum1         
receiving all the protection and        
benefits of government1 without bearing 
its proportion of the burdens and       
expenses of the same1 will not be looked
 upon acquiescently by those who have to
 pay the taxes4 ,in a growing country1  
where real estate enhances so rapidly   
with time as in the ,united ,states1    
there is scarcely a limit to the wealth 
that may be acquired by corporations1   
religious or otherwise1 if allowed to   

retain real estate without taxation4    
,the contemplation of so vast a property
 as here alluded to1 without taxation1  
may lead to sequestration without       
constitutional authority1 and through   
blood4 ,i would suggest the taxation of 
all property equally4  ,with no less    
emphasis ,president ,garfield put       
himself on record in the following      
words3  ,the divorce between church and 
state ought to be absolute4 ,it ought to
 be so absolute that no church property 
anywhere1 in any state1 or in the       
nation1 should be exempt from equal     
taxation2 for if you exempt the property
 of any church organization1 to that    
extent you impose a tax upon the whole  
community4  ,,weighty ,,press           
,,utterances4  ,the ,new ,york ,evening 
,post in its greatest days1 when edited 
by ,william ,cullen ,bryant1 spoke      
boldly on the subject of church         
exemption4 ,hear it3  ,the ,evening     
,post has long been of the opinion that 
the ,american theory of a               

self-supporting church ought to be      
carried out to its full and legitimate  
conclusion1 and that the separation of  
church and state ought to be complete4  
,it should include the total            
discontinuance of contributions of      
public money1 direct or indirect1 to the
 support of any religious establishment4
 ,we have never been able to see the    
slightest difference in principle       
between the appropriation of a certain  
sum of money raised by tax to a         
particular church1 and a release of that
 church from a tax on its property to   
the same amount4 ,the cost of the act in
 either case falls upon the taxpayers   
generally4  ,an admirable summary of the
 vital principles involved is contained 
in the following editorial from the ,san
 ,antonio ,express3  ,the ,express is   
not antagonistic to the churches4 ,it   
believes that many of them are doing a  
great and noble work2 but it does not   
believe in exempting sectarian property 
from taxation in a land of alleged      

religious liberty at the expense of men 
who regard the church as a brake on the 
wheels of progress1 an incubus on       
civilization1 the preservator of antique
 ignorance1 the storehouse of foolish   
superstition4 ,it does not approve of   
the church posing as an almoner while   
the thin purse of labor is annually     
mulct to make it a present of several   
millions4 ,let it be just before it     
attempts to be generous4 ,let it assume 
its due proportion of the public        
burdens1 and perchance there will not be
 so much need of its dole4 ,the church  
should not profit at the expense of the 
poor2 it certainly should not fatten at 
the cost of those who despise it4  ,even
 the ,new ,york ,independent1 when it   
was a distinctly clerical magazine1     
allowed the following clear statement of
 principle to appear3  ,the time has    
come when all religious denominations   
must affirm that no public moneys shall 
be used for sectarian instruction2 the  
time-honored principle of the separation

 of church and state must be again      
emphasized4 ,if a church is not willing 
to support its own schools1 it cannot   
come to the state for aid4 ,i would go  
so far in the application of this       
principle as to be willing to see all   
our churches taxed as is other property4
 ,we have no right to tax unbelievers   
that churches may be maintained2 no more
 right than they would have to tax      
churches for the support of ,infidel    
clubs4  ,,expressions ,,by ,,ingersoll4 
,the efficacy of the arguments contained
 in the foregoing expressions1 chosen   
from among many others1 is independent  
of the weight attachable to those who   
uttered them4 ,one and all1 they express
 the attitude of all who view the       
subject without bias1 and who refuse to 
allow self-interest to swerve them from 
a frank recognition of what is due to   
the principle of civic justice4 ,no     
better summary of the main issue could  
be found than the vigorous answer of    
,robert ,g4 ,ingersoll to an            

interviewer4 ,that the great ,agnostic  
orator should show strong feeling on the
 subject1 is not surprising1 nor does it
 in any sense weaken the logical force  
of his protest4 ,it is only natural that
 the victim of a burglary should be more
 energetic in his complaint than a third
 person who has slight interest in the  
matter4 ,the churches have had many a   
fling at the peerless champion of       
freedom of thought2 but they will find  
it easier to slur his memory than to    
refute his arguments4 ,he says3  ,i have
 seen a memorial asking that church     
property be taxed like other            
property4444 ,such memorials ought to be
 addressed to the legislatures of all   
the states4 ,the money of the public    
should only be used for the benefit of  
the public4 ,public money should not be 
used for what a few gentlemen think is  
for the benefit of the public4          
,personally1 ,i think it would be for   
the benefit of the public to have       
,infidel or scientific--which is the    

same thing--lectures delivered in every 
town1 in every state1 on every ,sunday2 
but1 knowing that a great many men      
disagree with me on this point1 ,i do   
not claim that such lectures ought to be
 paid for with public money4 ,the       
,methodist church ought not to be       
sustained by taxation1 nor the          
,catholic1 nor any other church4 ,to    
relieve their property from taxation is 
to appropriate money1 to the extent of  
that tax1 for the support of that       
church4 ,whenever a burden is lifted    
from one piece of property1 it is       
distributed over the rest of the        
property of the state2 and to release   
one kind of property is to increase the 
tax on all other kinds4444 ,to exempt   
the church from taxation is to pay a    
part of the priest's salary4 ,the       
,catholic now objects to being taxed to 
support a school in which his religion  
is not taught4 ,he is not satisfied with
 the school that says nothing on the    
subject of religion4 ,he insists that it

 is an outrage to tax him to support a  
school where the teacher simply teaches 
what he knows4 ,and yet this same       
,catholic wants his church exempted from
 taxation1 and the tax of an ,atheist or
 of a ,jew increased1 when he teaches in
 his untaxed church that the ,atheist   
and the ,jew will both be eternally     
damned6 ,is it possible for impudence to
 go further8444 ,in my judgment the     
church should be taxed precisely the    
same as other property4 ,the church may 
claim that it is one of the instruments 
of civilization and therefore should be 
exempt4 ,if you exempt that which is    
useful1 you exempt every trade and every
 profession4444  ,there was a time when 
ministers were supposed to be in the    
employ of ,god1 and it was thought that 
,god selected them with great care--that
 their profession had something sacred  
about it4 ,these ideas are no longer    
entertained by sensible people4         
,ministers should be paid like other    
professional men1 and those who like    

their preaching should pay the preacher4
 ,they should depend1 as actors do1 upon
 their popularity1 upon the amount of   
sense1 or nonsense1 that they have for  
sale4 ,they should depend upon the      
market like other people2 and if people 
do not want to hear sermons badly enough
 to build churches and pay for them1 and
 pay the taxes on them1 and hire the    
preacher1 let the money be diverted to  
some other use4 ,the pulpit should no   
longer be a pauper4 ,i do not believe in
 carrying on any business with the      
contribution box4 ,all the sectarian    
institutions ought to support           
themselves4  ,,the ,,magnitude ,,of     
,,the ,,wrong4  ,the foregoing chapters 
having demonstrated the iniquity and    
indefensibility of the exemption of     
church property from taxation1 the sole 
remaining point of interest concerns the
 amount of the wrong inflicted on the   
community by legalized church graft4    
,that it is very considerable1 a bare   
inspection of the wealth of the more    

favored churches makes abundantly plain4
 ,the enormous holdings1 for example1 of
 ,trinity ,church corporation in ,new   
,york city prove the immense            
possibilities in this direction4        
,incidentally1 it is an interesting     
fact1 pointed out in detail some years  
ago by ,john ,e4 ,remsburg1 that        
exemption is not only unfair to the     
general public1 but a means of favoring 
the city churches1 already rich and     
well-supported1 as contrasted with the  
relatively poor and weak country        
churches4 ,the latter have certainly    
good ground to complain that they do not
 get their fair share of the swag4 ,in  
the country1 land is cheap and abundant1
 and under normal conditions does not   
change much in value over a long period 
of years1 while general taxes are       
comparatively low4 ,it is the cities    
that pay the mass of the taxes2 and it  
is in the cities that the rapidly       
growing population causes frightful     
congestion1 and allows the most         

unscrupulous land speculation to return 
the largest profits4 ,in the general    
scramble for unearned increments1       
property holders who are exempt from the
 payment of taxes are given an          
overwhelming advantage4 ,they take no   
risk1 can wait as long as they please   
for the expected rise1 and pocket the   
entire amount of the increase in land   
values1 to which they have made no      
important contribution4 ,the state      
actually encourages and urges the       
churches to become land gamblers1 and to
 enrich themselves at the expense of the
 people4 ,as the city grows1 the        
churches gradually find excuses to move 
away from their earlier locations1      
selling out their sites at huge profits1
 not one dollar of which is restored to 
the community as conscience money1 and  
to buy less costly land with part of the
 proceeds1 investing the balance where  
it will bring substantial returns4 ,no  
wonder they grow rich while the poverty 
of the tenement dwellers proportionately

 increases6 ,and no wonder the city     
churches1 luxuriating in their bloated  
prosperity1 are able to lord it over    
their country associates1 and to rule   
the affairs of their sect with an iron  
hand1 despite their gross numerical     
inferiority4 ,no wonder that the general
 assemblies1 synods and the like of the 
various denominations are so frequently 
characterized by peanut politics which  
would disgrace a ward caucus1 and by    
bitter wrangling and exhibitions of     
ill-will which contrast strikingly with 
the professions of ,christian love4     
,,urban ,,monopoly ,,and ,,unfairness4  
,as ,mr4 ,remsburg's article 7,truth    
,seeker1 ,jan4 #ad1 #aiaa1 p4 #bb17 is  
not now available except to those       
possessing files of the paper1 no       
apology is required for reproducing the 
following paragraph from it3            
,ecclesiastical property is confined    
chiefly to cities4 ,one city in         
,massachusetts owns nearly one-third of 
the church property of ,massachusetts2  

one city of ,pennsylvania owns nearly   
one-third of the church property of     
,pennsylvania2 one city in ,missouri    
owns nearly one-third of the church     
property of that state2 one city in     
,nebraska owns nearly one-third of the  
church property of that state4 ,one city
 in ,illinois1 ,chicago1 owns more than 
three-eighths of the church property of 
,illinois4 ,st4 ,paul and ,minneapolis1 
practically one city1 own one-half of   
the church property of ,minnesota4 ,one 
city in ,louisiana owns more than       
one-half of the church property of      
,louisiana4 ,one state1 ,new ,york1 owns
 nearly one-fourth of the ecclesiastical
 property of the ,united ,states2 while 
one city in ,new ,york owns more than   
one-half of the church property in that 
state4 ,one city in ,rhode ,island owns 
nearly three-fifths of the church       
property of ,rhode ,island2 one city in 
,delaware owns nearly three-fifths of   
the church property of ,delaware2 one   
city in ,colorado owns nearly           

three-fifths of the church property of  
,colorado2 while one city in ,maryland  
owns nearly two-thirds of the church    
property of ,maryland4 ,thus1 a dozen   
cities own one-half of the church       
property of their respective states4    
,this property includes only church     
buildings4 ,the proportion of           
ecclesiastical property other than      
church buildings owned by the churches  
of these cities is much greater4        
,two-thirds of the ecclesiastical       
property of these states is confined to 
these cities4 ,and yet1 nine-tenths of  
the churches in these states are outside
 of these cities4 ,one-tenth of the     
churches in these states1 therefore1 own
 two-thirds of the church property of   
these states4 ,adding the other cities  
and large towns of these states1 it is  
safe to say that one-fifth of the       
churches own four-fifths of the church  
property4 ,the property owned by        
four-fifths of the church organizations 
consists principally of modest1         

inexpensive church buildings4 ,if church
 property was taxed1 the amount of taxes
 levied on these churches would not be  
great4 ,the greater portion of taxes    
would come from the costly churches and 
from the real estate owned by wealthy   
church corporations in the cities2 and  
even the advocates of church exemption  
cannot deny the justice of taxing this  
property4 ,municipal taxes are          
enormously high2 and the exemption of so
 large a property imposes an unjust     
burden on those who have to pay these   
taxes4 ,in every city is to be found    
property that taxes have                
devoured--families who have been        
rendered homeless by excessive taxation4
  ,a ,,church ,,masks ,a ,,saloon4  ,of 
the many queer things that can be done  
by virtue of tax exemption laws1 a      
recent episode in ,new ,york city       
furnishes an apt illustration4 ,a saloon
 keeper had for some time a monopoly of 
trade in one of the less settled but    
growing districts4 ,with the opening of 

a new boulevard1 houses began to go up2 
and a rival was not slow in taking      
advantage of the opportunity to set up  
in opposition to the first comer4 ,the  
newcomer was an energetic business man1 
and knew how to draw custom1 so that he 
at once made considerable inroads on the
 patronage of his older competitor4 ,the
 latter1 however1 was a man of          
resources4 ,among the few lots of land  
not yet occupied for building purposes  
was one in the neighborhood of the      
second saloon4 ,this was quietly        
purchased by the older saloonist1 and   
the other awaited results1 expecting to 
see a third saloon established with a   
view to stealing some of his trade4 ,his
 wily rival1 however1 knew a trick worth
 two of that4 ,almost over night1 a rude
 shack was erected1 with a slight       
steeple which pointed heavenward1 though
 not with what usually pass for heavenly
 aims4 ,this was turned over free of    
charge to a handful of persons1 to hold 
meetings of a nominally religious       

nature4 ,having no taxes to pay on      
property thus dedicated to holy uses1   
and being thus able to hold it          
indefinitely at practically no expense1 
the original saloon keeper straightway  
appealed to the police department to    
enforce the law forbidding the existence
 of a saloon within a certain distance  
of a church1 and thus1 at the latest    
report1 was on the eve of triumphantly  
driving his rival from the field4 ,the  
next move would naturally be to purchase
 the abandoned saloon at a low figure1  
allow the church1 having served its     
purpose1 to give up the ghost in an     
unobtrusive manner1 and to resume       
business with the second saloon1 where  
the discomfited competitor had been     
compelled to leave it off4 ,whether the 
ingenious scheme worked out to the      
finish or not1 the writer is not        
informed4 ,at least1 it went far enough 
to demonstrate the remarkable           
possibilities under legislation         
encouraging the juggling with religious 

things for purposes of private          
advantage4  ,,another ,,vulnerable      
,,defense4  ,the apologists for church  
exemption find themselves in a position 
of great embarrassment when the nature  
and amount of the exempted property are 
called into question4 ,in the difficulty
 of securing accurate and complete      
figures they attempt at once to minimize
 and to magnify the amount involved4 ,in
 pleading for the country churches1 they
 raise the cry of poverty1 and solemnly 
aver that these feeble institutions are 
so dependent on state help for their    
existence that without it they must     
inevitably perish4 ,the claim is both   
false and irrelevant4 ,it is false1     
because the taxable property of the     
country churches1 as may be readily seen
 from the preceding discussion1 and may 
be learned by any person through direct 
observation1 is of extremely low value1 
and bears far less proportion to the    
available income of their aggregate     
membership than the holdings of the city

 churches4 ,the few dollars of taxes    
which an honest fiscal policy would     
impose on the average country church    
would be raised without the slightest   
difficulty4 ,as a matter of fact1 it is 
not the poor and struggling country     
churches which are lobbying against the 
removal of exemption2 it is the wealthy 
city corporations1 which use the poor   
country church argument as a means of   
drawing a red herring across the track1 
and diverting attention from their own  
handsome pickings4 ,the claim1 even if  
true1 would obviously be irrelevant1    
since it is not the business of the     
state to keep churches alive4           
,forgetful of their professed fear on   
behalf of the struggling country        
churches1 however1 the apologists for   
religious graft lay tremendous stress on
 the assertion that the amount which the
 state loses through the churches is a  
mere bagatelle1 and that the taxpayers  
would not gain enough to help them much1
 if it were reclaimed4 ,a pat retort1 of

 course1 is that if this be the case1 it
 is amazing that the churches have      
become so terrified at the idea of      
handing over so small an amount to the  
state4 ,wealthy as they are1 if the sum 
is as trivial as they say1 they will    
never miss it1 and can afford to be     
honest1 and to conciliate the favor of  
those who are now driven away from the  
gospel by the greed and grafting spirit 
of the agencies which represent it4     
,like the fiction of the dying country  
churches1 however1 the claim is both    
false and irrelevant4 ,it is false1 as  
will presently be shown by some of the  
figures which have become available2 and
 it is irrelevant1 because the moral    
character of a thief is not to be graded
 according to the amount of loot which  
he has succeeded in acquiring4 ,the     
recognition of the right of the church  
to receive a subsidy from the state1 and
 thus to make the separation of church  
and state a dead letter1 would remain as
 serious a crime against the democratic 

principle1 if not more than a single    
dollar were involved4  ,,new ,,york',s  
,,blanket ,,exemption ,,law4  ,before   
taking up the subject of statistics1 it 
will not be amiss to quote the exemption
 law of ,new ,york as typical of church 
graft at its worst4 ,it will be seen    
that references to religious uses and   
purposes are ingeniously smuggled in1   
side by side with much verbiage as to   
institutions serving a public purpose1  
so that they may appear to fit naturally
 among such bodies as so minister to the
 collective needs of the community that 
they deserve to be subsidized by the    
state4 ,for this reason1 it is best to  
cite the germane portions of the statute
 in full1 instead of isolating those    
that relate solely to the churches4     
,incidentally1 it will be noted that the
 churches are not once mentioned by     
name4 ,it is the nature of graft to seek
 shelter under evasion1 and to avoid    
clear expression of its intentions4 ,the
 following1 then1 is drawn from ,section

 #d1 subdivision #g1 of the ,tax ,law of
 ,new ,york3  ,the real property of a   
corporation or association organized    
exclusively for the moral or mental     
improvement of men or women1 or for     
religious1 bible1 tract1 charitable1    
benevolent1 missionary1 hospital1       
infirmary1 educational1 scientific1     
literary1 library1 patriotic1 historical
 or cemetery purposes444 and the        
personal property of any such           
corporation shall be exempt from        
taxation4 ,but no such corporation shall
 be entitled to any such exemption1 if  
any member or employee thereof shall    
receive or may be lawfully entitled to  
receive any pecuniary profit from the   
operations thereof except reasonable    
compensation for services in effecting  
one or more of such purposes1 or as     
proper beneficiaries of its strictly    
charitable purposes2 or if the          
organization thereof1 for any of such   
avowed purposes1 be a guise or pretence 
for profit444 or if it be not in good   

faith organized or conducted exclusively
 for one or more of such purposes4 ,the 
real property of any such corporation or
 association entitled to such exemption 
held by it exclusively for one or more  
of such purposes1 and from which no     
rents1 profits or income are derived1   
shall be so exempt1 although not in     
actual use therefor by reason of the    
absence of suitable buildings or        
improvements thereon1 if the            
construction of such buildings is in    
progress1 or is in good faith           
contemplated by such corporation or     
association4444 ,property held by any   
officer of a religious denomination     
shall be entitled to the same exemption1
 subject to the same conditions and     
exceptions1 as property held by a       
religious corporation4  ,in the         
comprehensive list of exempted classes  
of property enumerated above1 it will be
 observed that all save those of a      
religious nature have at least some show
 of claim to be regarded as ministering 

to public aims1 or as essential to the  
existence of a civilized community1 and 
therefore deserving of public           
encouragement4 ,whether the claim is in 
all cases sufficient to warrant         
exemption from taxation1 need not be    
here discussed4 ,in the opinion of many 
students of the problem1 nearly all     
exemptions are illicit4 ,whether that be
 the case or not1 it has been made clear
 that the argument for taxing churches  
is stronger than that for taxing any of 
the other classes1 and the argument     
against it weaker4 ,this results from   
the fact that religion is more          
distinctly a matter of the individual   
than is literature1 science1 education  
or philanthropy4 ,hence1 even if it be  
good public policy to subsidize these   
agents of social progress1 it by no     
means follows that the same is true of  
the churches2 while1 conversely1 the    
taxation of churches need not logically 
embrace the taxation of any of the other
 classes4 ,each must stand on its own   

merits2 and in each case enter          
considerations that make it improper to 
draw the fate of any one of them into   
that of any other4 ,that a mischievous  
and loosely drawn statute has bracketed 
them all together should not blind us to
 the radical differences that exist     
among them1 or to the fact that none of 
the grounds on which exemption of most  
of the others is defended apply in any  
degree to the churches4  ,,land         
,,speculation ,,invited4  ,the          
recklessness of the enactors of the ,new
 ,york tax law is visible in its blanket
 nature4 ,not satisfied with exempting  
property in actual use1 the statute     
contains a provision by which the tax   
assessor is called upon to become a     
telepathic expert1 and to divine the    
intentions of a corporation holding land
 out of use6 ,not only property actually
 used for religious purposes is to go   
untaxed1 but also land where the        
construction of buildings for the       
purpose of worship is in good faith     

contemplated6 ,no method for testing the
 good faith is provided1 nor any        
safeguard against abuse of the good     
faith clause4 ,no more open invitation  
to fraud could be devised4 ,no penalty  
for evasion is provided1 and no means of
 collecting back taxes1 in case the     
church corporation1 after grabbing land 
from the heart of the city1 and holding 
it ten or twenty years under the        
pretense of intending to build on it at 
some future time1 shall find it         
impracticable or undesirable to carry   
out the contemplated action1 and shall  
sell the land at an increased valuation1
 and put a handsome amount of money into
 its treasury through the kindness of   
government in promoting this species of 
land speculation without risk4 ,should  
the property depreciate instead of      
rising1 there is still time to use it   
for church purposes1 and nothing is     
lost4 ,every other land speculator must 
at least take some risk2 but the church 
is playing a sure game and cannot lose4 

,the community pays the bill for the    
benefit of the sure-thing gambler4 ,if  
it be urged that this particular clause 
allows the same abuse by any other form 
of exempted corporation1 the answer is  
that this only makes the evil all the   
greater4 ,the clause would be bad1 even 
if it applied only to corporations      
rightfully held exempt from taxation on 
the property in actual use by them for  
public purposes2 and the wrong is       
multiplied by its application to the    
churches1 which have no legitimate claim
 to exemption under any conditions4     
,turn now to the last sentence in the   
law as quoted4 ,this works in two main  
ways4 ,in the first place1 it is special
 legislation in favor of the policy of  
the ,roman ,catholic church of placing  
church properties in the hands of       
bishops1 over whom there is no adequate 
check4 ,the congregation might as well  
be so many cattle for all the rights    
they have over the church property      
accumulated through their sacrifices4   

,all they are for1 in the eyes of the   
hierarchy1 to which they submit with the
 docility of sheep1 and less than a     
sheep's intelligence1 is to pay4        
,contrary to the entire spirit of       
self-government1 the ,state of ,new     
,york endorses this exploitation and    
tyranny1 and ordains that the           
irresponsible bishops shall hold other  
people's property free from all         
taxation1 to use or abuse as they see   
fit4 ,the provision also makes it       
possible for any individual to start a  
church on his own hook1 for any ulterior
 ends he may see fit1 and to maintain   
sole authority over the property as an  
officer of a religious denomination1    
thus under the color of religion to     
claim divine sanction for the most      
anti-social ends1 and to receive a      
subsidy from the state while doing so4  
,its second use is to complete the      
parasitical status of the ordinary      
parson by exempting his house and land  
from taxation1 provided only he is not  

using it to buy and sell goods1 but only
 for the pretended service of ,god4     
,when the land appreciates1 he may sell 
at a profit1 and start to serve ,god in 
a brand new parsonage1 putting into his 
own pocket the surplus cash thus sweated
 from the community4 ,like the church1  
he may gamble in land values to his     
heart's content4 ,as he pays no taxes1  
he cannot lose1 and can hold on         
indefinitely1 where the ordinary real   
estate dealer must let go his holdings  
if the market runs against him4 ,the    
state thus interposes to favor one land 
speculator above another1 and to tempt  
the clergyman to neglect his spiritual  
duties for financial profit4 ,the       
provision is thus an outrage on the     
community1 an unfairness to the real    
estate interests1 and an injury to      
whatever is good in religion4  ,a ,,few 
,,figures4  ,the amount of the indirect 
subsidy annually paid to the churches by
 our government which pretends to       
separation of church and state cannot be

 exactly determined4 ,statistics of the 
value of church property are            
inaccurately gathered1 with a tendency  
to underestimate2 and tax rates1 of     
course1 vary within very wide limits4   
,taking the figures as we find them1    
however1 and assuming an average tax    
rate of #a4ej per #ajj1 we shall still  
arrive at striking results4  ,as we have
 seen1 ,president ,grant1 in his        
presidential message for #ahge1 quotes  
the amount of church property exempt    
from taxation in #ahej as approximately 
#hg1jjj1jjj4 ,this had doubled1 he      
states1 in #ahfj2 and the official      
figures for #ahgj were #ced1dhc1ehg4    
,this terrific rate of growth1 far in   
excess of the growth of any other form  
of wealth1 could not1 of course1 be     
maintained in full2 but the actual      
increase has1 none the less1 been       
enormous and alarming4 ,in #ahij1 the   
admitted value of church property1 as   
compiled by ,h4 ,k4 ,carroll1 ,,ll4,d41 
the well-known authority on religious   

statistics1 had risen to #fgi1fid1dci4  
,the latest available figures of the    
present time are those of #aijf1 in     
which year the church property of the   
country was valued at #a1beg1ege1hfg4   
,keeping well within bounds in          
estimating the value of this favored    
class of property in the present year   
7#aiae71 we shall be more than safely   
conservative in calling it at least     
#a1ejj1jjj1jjj2 and it is still rapidly 
increasing4 ,thus1 from #ahej to #aiae1 
the value of church property was        
multiplied not less than fourteenfold4  
,in the same space of time1 the         
population had increased less than      
fourfold2 and church membership has just
 about kept pace with the population2   
showing a growing tendency to fall      
behind4 ,in other words1 the churches   
are making money from three to four     
times as fast as they are gaining       
members 7winning souls in their own     
phrase71 and the same number of times as
 rapidly as the population is growing4  

,they are laying up treasures on earth  
faster than any other class in the      
community and at the expense of the     
whole community2 and it is no wonder    
that their clutch on the things of this 
world and their opposition to any check 
on their graft prove them amenable to   
the saying3 ,where thy treasure is1     
there will thy heart be also4 ,when an  
organization so rapidly absorbs the     
wealth of the nation it cannot resent   
the imputation that acquiring wealth is 
its chief concern4  ,at the assumed rate
 of taxation 7#a4ej per #ajj71 the money
 actually filched from the public       
treasury by the churches is at least    
#bb1ejj1jjj a year2 and this minimum    
calculation1 far below the actual       
amount1 is increasing swiftly from year 
to year4 ,in all the talk of economy in 
taxation1 and of seeking new sources of 
revenue1 when will our statesmen have   
the intelligence to stop this frightful 
leak8 ,the churches owe the money1 they 
can afford to pay1 and they should be   

made to pay4 ,did they not set the      
satisfaction of selfish greed above     
moral and civic considerations1 they    
would do their duty without compulsion4 
,since1 however1 they will do nothing   
for the community1 except when they are 
forced to obey the people's will1 the   
problem is only that of enlightening the
 public as to the manner and degree in  
which it is robbed4 ,if legislatures    
cannot be found with moral courage to   
withstand the threats of the church     
lobby1 and with sense to penetrate the  
sophistries of the hired lawyers arguing
 in behalf of the church's demands1 a   
counter force must be provided in an    
enlightened public sentiment so strong  
that the politician will find his       
political future dependent on his       
deafness to the ecclesiastical sirens   
and his support of full justice to the  
taxpaying citizens as against the pious 
harpies now permitted to prey upon them4
  ,to enter upon the figures for each of
 the different states and for the       

principal cities would savor of         
iteration4 ,in no case will analysis of 
the figures for any state or city       
negative the foregoing facts or         
conclusions4 ,those interested in       
pursuing the question of statistical    
detail may find food for study and      
reflection in the work of ,h4 ,k4       
,carroll1 ,,ll4,d41 ,religious ,forces  
in the ,united ,states1 edition of      
#aiab1 pages #cgh-cha and #dah-dba4 ,dr4
 ,carroll was in official charge of the 
department of churches in the census of 
#ahij and is a recognized authority on  
church statistics4 ,active in ,methodist
 circles all his life1 he may be trusted
 to resolve all doubts in favor of the  
church1 and his testimony cannot be put 
aside by church apologists4  ,,wealth   
,,increases ,,faster ,,than ,,churches4 
,illustration of the looting of the     
public treasury by church exemption may 
be drawn from ,new ,york4 ,in this state
 church property in #ahij was valued at 
#adj1abc1jjh4 ,in #aijf1 a period of    

fourteen years1 it had risen to         
#bee1aff1bhd4 ,here1 as elsewhere in the
 country1 ,dr4 ,carroll points out      
7,religious ,forces ,introduction1 p4   
#ei7 that the increase in church        
buildings comes nowhere near keeping    
pace with the increase in values4 ,in   
the country as a whole the increase in  
values from #ahij to #aijf was #he4a per
 cent41 while the increase in church    
edifices was only #ce4c per cent4 ,in   
,new ,york1 the increase in the number  
of buildings within the period given was
 only from #g1idb to #i1aic1 or less    
than #af per cent41 as compared to the  
increase in value of more than #hb per  
cent4 ,even with this small increase of 
churches1 it is notorious that more     
buildings exist than are needed or used4
 ,but taking the figures as they are1 it
 is self-evident that for this huge     
increment of value the community gets   
nothing4 ,even the friendly ,dr4        
,carroll is forced to admit this1 and to
 draw the inevitable conclusion 7,int41 

p4 #fj7 that the increase results from  
more costly edifices and the natural    
increase in values1 which can mean      
nothing but speculative land values4    
,this removes the last faint pretext for
 exemption4 ,even supposing that the    
services rendered by the churches were  
indispensable to the community1 it is   
palpable that the performance of such   
service draws upon only a fraction of   
the wealth possessed by these bodies4   
,out of the immense margin they could   
well afford to bear their honest share  
of civic burdens1 and would not be      
compelled to curtail their beneficent   
activities in order to do so4 ,honest   
church taxation would merely prevent the
 storing up of superfluous wealth at the
 expense of the whole people4  ,since   
the most valuable church property is    
concentrated in the cities1 a glance at 
their statistics should not be omitted4 
,figures for #ahij are given by ,dr4    
,carroll in the volume cited1 pages     
#djj-dae4 ,from these1 it appears that  

in that year #cac1ecg1bdg of the total  
previously given was situated in the    
#abd cities of the first1 second and    
third class4 ,the population of these   
cities amounted to #ac1ihh1ich in #ahij2
 that of the whole country to           
#fb1fbb1bej4 ,thus were the enormous    
profits from the exemption graft poured 
mainly into the swollen coffers of the  
city churches4 ,while serving           
considerably less than one-fourth of the
 population1 they had amassed nearly    
one-half of the property owned by all   
the churches of the country4 ,the       
churches of ,new ,york city alone owned 
in the year stated property to the value
 of #gc1ceb1dcg1 more that a tenth of   
all the church property in the country1 
although then1 as now1 containing only  
about one-twentieth of the population4  
,while no exact figures are at present  
available as to the value of church     
property in the metropolis to-day the   
amount cannot be much short of a quarter
 of a million dollars4 ,in a printed    

brief presented to the ,committee on    
,taxation on the ,new ,york             
,constitutional ,convention1 ,william   
,d4 ,guthrie1 retained as attorney for  
the ,roman ,catholic interests1         
estimates1 according to figures as of   
,may1 #aiad1 the amount at              
#agj1dde1gbe499 ,as his whole aim was to
 minimize the amount of exemptions this 
is certainly none too high a figure1 and
 is probably much too low4 ,allowing it 
to stand1 however1 a comparison with the
 foregoing data will show that either   
,new ,york churches are at a fearful    
rate growing richer and richer at the   
expense of the other churches of the    
country1 or that the total of church    
property in the land has risen to the   
appalling figure of at least            
#a1gjj1jjj1jjj4       99 ,in #aiac an   
analysis of the official figures given  
in the      ,city ,record to show the   
amount of exempt property in ,new       
,york ,city was made for ,the ,truth    
,seeker4 ,the exempted church           

property listed was appraised at        
#bdd1-dde1iee4   ,,population ,,and     
,,profits4  ,taking the church          
population instead of the general       
population as1 from some points of view1
 a fairer measure of the degree to which
 the city churches amass wealth at the  
expense of the country churches1 we find
 that the total number of communicants  
in #ahij was #bj1fah1cjg in the entire  
country4 ,in the #abd cities of         
importance1 the number was #e1cjb1jah4  
,it should further be remembered that   
the ,roman ,catholics are concentrated  
in the cities1 about one-tenth of all   
the ,catholics in the country being in  
the single city of ,new ,york2 and that 
this sect does not keep honest records  
of its communicants1 but practically    
forces all the children of nine years of
 age and above1 born in ,catholic       
families1 to become communicants1 and   
then on the basis of once a ,catholic1  
always a ,catholic1 counts them forever 
after in its doctored figures4 ,thus the

 hundreds of thousands of born          
,catholics who have turned ,protestants 
are counted twice in making up religious
 statistics1 once as ,catholics and once
 as members of the denomination to which
 they have transferred their allegiance2
 while the ex-,catholics who have left  
the church altogether are still counted 
in to swell the total4 ,thus through    
accepting the crooked ,roman ,catholic  
statistics1 the ostensible number of    
church members in the country is greatly
 overestimated by ,dr4 ,carroll and     
others1 while the proportion of         
,catholics to the whole number is       
likewise immensely exaggerated4 ,could  
we squeeze out the water from the       
religious statistics1 it would be found 
that the actual percentage of genuine   
communicants in the cities is much less 
than one in four4 ,even from ,dr4       
,carroll's figures1 however1 it is but  
little more4 ,thus a church member in   
one of the cities is a partner in twice 
the wealth of a church member in the    

country2 and where the treasure is1     
there will the heart be also4 ,by the   
same census1 the number of communicants 
in ,new ,york city was only #hff1efd1 or
 less than one-twenty-third of the      
total1 and this in spite of having much 
more than its share of persons          
dishonestly counted as ,catholic        
communicants4 ,so1 according to the     
system of church exemption1 the rich    
,new ,york churches1 with less than one 
church member in every twenty-three in  
the country as a whole1 have swept into 
their hands1 by the method attributed by
 the author of the ,proverbs to the     
daughters of the horseleech1 more than  
one-tenth of all the church wealth4 ,no 
wonder they can afford to hire expensive
 counsel to appear before the state     
legislature and the ,constitutional     
,convention to demand that they be left 
undisturbed in the profitable enterprise
 of impoverishing the community to      
provide more luxury for themselves4     
,,preponderance ,,of ,,city ,,property4 

,a final comparison will prove even more
 startling than what has gone before4   
,in #ahij1 the total number of church   
buildings in the country was #adb1fci2  
in the cities referred to1 the number   
was #i1gbb2 and in ,new ,york city it   
was #iag4 ,that is to say1 #abd cities1 
with less than one-fourteenth the number
 of church buildings1 possessed         
practically one-half of the church      
wealth2 while the single city of ,new   
,york1 which absorbed more than         
one-tenth of the wealth1 had less than  
one out of every #aee of the church     
buildings of the country6 ,no wonder the
 churches of the large cities1 and of   
,new ,york in particular1 howl bloody   
murder when asked to part with some of  
their popular graft and pay their debts6
 ,to them1 at least1 ,christianity is no
 longer a religion for the poor and     
disinherited of earth1 but the special  
enjoyment of idle wealth and heartless  
vanity4  ,what ,new ,york lacks in      
number of churches to the population1 it

 makes up in the luxurious elegance of  
those it does possess4 ,its houses of   
worship are magnificent religious clubs 
for worship on the de luxe plan4 ,what  
the poor1 wandering ,nazarene1 if any   
credence is to be placed in the story of
 his life1 would have said to this      
cynical burlesque of his teachings1 may 
be left to the imagination4 ,were there 
any honest excuse for asking the state  
to bear part of the burdens of the      
church1 it would apply in a tenfold     
degree to the struggling country        
churches1 which form a much more organic
 life of the community than do the city 
ones1 and may much more plausibly be    
credited with genuine and community-wide
 social service4 ,as has been seen1     
however1 tax exemption going in the main
 to multiply the superfluous wealth of  
the city churches1 does next to nothing 
for them4  ,,the ,,rich ,,against ,,the 
,,poor4  ,in addition to all the other  
unanswerable objections to the exemption
 system1 it is thus irrepealably        

convicted of a systematic discrimination
 in favor of the rich as against the    
poor4 ,this1 in a nutshell1 is the      
spirit of present-day ,christianity4    
,the plethoric churches of the cities   
are the main foes of economic honesty4  
,it is they1 rather than the country    
churches1 which1 feeing expensive       
lawyers and maintaining elaborate       
lobbies at our state capitals1 menace   
our politicians with ruin and bring all 
forms of pressure to bear to terrorize  
our legislatures1 in order to prevent   
the withdrawal of the special privilege 
that heaps up in their hands the        
earnings wrenched from others by legal  
favoritism2 and in all this they are not
 seeking to protect their existence     
against threatened destruction1 nor to  
keep themselves from being crippled in  
their legitimate work1 but to add more  
millions to the superfluous treasure    
they have already extorted from the     
people1 and to cater to the decadent    
demand for extravagant display4         

,isolated instances of churches engaged 
in serious attempts to grapple with the 
larger social needs prove nothing to the
 purpose4 ,such churches need no graft  
to win the cooperation of devoted       
workers and benefactors4 ,if they join  
in the cry for exemption1 it is because 
they are made catspaws by the parasitic 
churches1 and have not enough faith in  
righteousness to shun the practice of   
doing evil that good may come4  ,in     
order that the issue might be made as   
clear as possible1 the discussion has   
been confined directly to churches and  
church property4 ,of the property of    
religious and semi-religious bodies     
other than churches1 and of the         
educational1 hospital1 philanthropic1   
reformatory and other institutions      
controlled by religious bodies and      
exempt from taxation--although in many  
cases making their ostensible activities
 a cover for sectarian proselytism1 and 
in all cases using their otherwise      
excellent work as a means of advertising

 their sects--little has been said4 ,the
 reasons against exemption of church    
property apply largely1 if not fully1 to
 these as well1 although they have at   
least certain specious grounds for favor
 which the churches cannot show4 ,it    
cannot be doubted1 at least1 that the   
more completely society1 in city1 state 
and nation1 performs all its collective 
functions directly1 rather than through 
the medium of any semi-private          
institution partly withdrawn from its   
direct supervision and control1 the     
better4 ,if some compromise is found    
necessary1 it should be looked upon only
 as a temporary expedient1 and not as a 
permanent policy4  ,the evils attendant 
upon subsidizing any form of sectarian  
institution1 whatever its social        
services1 are too great to be ignored4  
,yet1 making the largest possible       
concessions to these bodies1 such       
grounds of expediency as may at present 
be held to justify their exemption from 
taxation cannot legitimately be extended

 to the churches1 whose mission is in no
 way allied to any function of organized
 society4  ,the taxation of church      
property is demanded by every           
consideration of sound public policy1   
common sense1 democracy and justice4 ,in
 the day when these principles are      
heeded1 the people will come into their 
own4  ,the matter in this pamphlet is an
 expansion of the argument made by the  
author1 ,june #a1 #aiae1 at a hearing   
held in the ,senate ,chamber at ,albany1
 ,new ,york1 before the ,committee on   
,taxation of the ,constitutional        
,convention1 in support of an amendment 
offered by ,james ,l4 ,nixon of         
,buffalo1 to abolish all exemptions of  
church property from taxation4