Lasbrey Nsiegbe
23 November 2008
opinion
I congratulate and thank the editorial team of Sunday Vanguard for the will and courage to throw this very important topic open for discussion.
I expect more of this attitude on other complex issues of spiritual and religious nature in view of the pervasive level of spiritual ignorance amongst mankind today.
A discussion of payment of tax by the Church will, willy-nilly, involve issues of regulation of churches by government and/or legally constituted central Church authority.
Both issues are like siamese twins. To start with, I should love to observe that this world was a better place, especially in Nigeria, when churches were regulated as non-profit organizations, with central administrative organs at home and abroad.
However, with the advent of the Pentecostal churches and born-againism which led to an unbridled proliferation of churches in Nigeria, the darkness of evil and crime has soared and expanded rather than abate. This is because the Church leaders have abandoned the doctrine of love and truth which Jesus taught and propagated and have now embraced the doctrine of money, wealth and prosperity. Do you wonder? Is it not said that the love of money is the root of all evil?
Can you see a relationship between the Church and the trend of Nigeria's political and social development? When churches were regulated and sanity reigned therein, there was balance as well as sanity in our political culture and social values. But the churches broke loose in the mid-eighties with the advent of Pentecostalism a few years earlier, then insanity and greed set in therein and, with that our political culture and social values took a nose-dive. Any hope to fully restore sanity, balance and responsibility into our social and political life in Nigeria must begin from the Church and Church leaders.
Otherwise, God's spiritual hierarchy of the heavens and earth will pull the once great institution of the Church down sooner than later. Mark my words. Sweeping changes are coming upon the people of earth in all spheres of life in no distant future. Church leaders should take note.
The first manifestations of this in the political sphere of earth have occurred in America's recent presidential election and are just a tip of the iceberg. There is a pervasive level of spiritual ignorance amongst mankind today and many Church leaders (themselves spiritual ignoramuses also) take undue advantage of this to milk their members as well as defraud government of tax revenues accruable. But, fortunately, there is yet hope, for we have entered a spiritual new dawn where truth and love must prevail henceforth to vanquish the encroaching darkness, ignorance and greed.
So, as for the issue of regulation of churches, I will say yes!!! This because, it is the path of rectitude and a return to the state of balance in the religious sphere. But, as for taxes, I will say yes and no, also entailing a balanced viewpoint. As far back as the 1960s, churches were registered and regulated as non-profit organizations and they truly operated as such. Their income came from voluntary and freewill donations of Church members, and from the central administrative organs, either local or foreign or both.
They were like the NGOs (truly non-government and non-business) who depend on the goodwill of local and international donors. So, they were immune to the tax laws. Churches that still operate as such should not be made to pay tax. It is only in respect of such churches I will agree that taxing them would be tantamount to double-taxing the tax-paying members. Do you see?
On the other hand, the scenario today is totally different. Churches have become full business organizations and companies, engaging in various forms of profit-making business such as schools proprietorship, banking and finance, transportation, trading, real estate and what have you. In that sense, such churches have lost the privileged and special status of non-profit, non-business organizations. As such, whatever tax laws that apply to all profit-oriented businesses and bodies need be extended to them as well.
Yes, it is true that there used to be mission schools run by the Church in the days of yore. But such schools were run purely with non-profit motive and service-based orientation. Many of us as well as the big Church leaders of today benefited from them. The same cannot be said of the schools operated by churches today, which are totally profit-oriented. The only obstacle I see that the tax authorities may have in extracting tax revenue from the Church is that churches today are still registered by the Corporate Affairs Commission as non-profit organizations and all their profit-oriented businesses are subsumed under their non-profit toga.
But this can be taken care of by appropriate legislation. I would therefore recommend that Bills be initiated and passed by the National Assembly and/or the various state Houses of Assembly to effect either of two things or both, viz: One, make it illegal, in national interest, and punishable by law for churches who do not want to pay tax to engage in any profit-oriented business venture. Those willing to pay tax should go ahead with any business venture of their choice like every other law abiding citizen. Then we all can know them as "Churches for profit" and not "Churches for Christ." Two, make it mandatory for all profit-yielding ventures run by any Church to be fully registered as separate entities for the purpose of income tax assessment and payment.
Another area to look at is that of personal income tax payment (PAYE). Every Church, I suppose, has a monthly wage bill that takes care of the general overseer, archbishop, bishop, pastor, deacon and every staff, down to the cleaner and mai-guard. These are all wage earners whose personal income tax should be deducted, like those of workers in other sectors, and remitted by the churches under the Pay As You Earn (P.A.Y.E) scheme to the tax authorities. Do the churches do this? Most important in this discussion is the issue of tithing. This, by far, represents the worst means of exploitation of unsuspecting and spiritually ignorant masses by the churches.
Tithing is a forced taxation of Church members and it was not mandated by God. We shall soon see why. Tithing is a religious tax. But what for? Simply put, it is for religious services rendered to the Church member. It is basically not different from the Value Added Tax (VAT) deducted or collected by certain companies for services rendered to individuals or bodies in addition to the nominal cost of such services.
It is not different from the VAT paid on goods purchased from a Departmental Store in addition to the nominal value of such goods. What is the difference, when a Church member has given his freewill and voluntary donation or offering to the Church, from his income, and then is made to pay an extra fixed percentage of the same income to the Church as tithe? This is in fact double-taxing a tax-paying income earner. There are only two differences. One, the VAT paid on goods and services is only five percent while the tithe (forced tax) collected by churches is ten percent for religious services rendered by the church. Two, the VAT paid is remitted to government while the tithe collected is not remitted but is retained by the churches.
Let us take a look at the history and origin of tithing. Long before the birth of Jesus the Christ, the Jewish people and their lands were under the subjugation of Roman occupation and rule aided by the Sanhedrin (the Jewish nobility) and clerics. The Roman invaders needed cash to sustain their rule and dominion over the people and also make remittances to their home government in Rome.
They therefore decreed the payment of a 10 per cent tithe by every taxable adult into government coffers, with a penalty or damnation of being stoned to death awaiting any defaulter. Everyone acquiesced because of the great fear evoked by the death penalty.At that time also, the Church and State were inextricably intertwined because of the complicity of the Sanhedrin and clerics and State policy became Church policy and vise versa for maximum effect.
Thus was tithing introduced into Jewish religious practices and doctrine. The money or tithe being collected by the clerics was as good as having been collected by government. It was not a mandate from God, because of the great potential for its abuse as is happening in the churches today. It was extortional and exploitative and every Jewish citizen was aware of that.
The Sanhedrin and clerics were acutely aware of the evil nature of the tithing policy and so attempted to implicate Christ over it by seeking his opinion and feelings on the issue. But His Heart Wisdom prevailed and he admonished them to: "Give to Caesar that which is Caesar's and to God that which is God's." In other words, pay your tithe (tax) to the government but give of your heart's love and freewill to God." No more, no less !!! Caesar demanded ten percent, God demanded love and freewill offering.
The fear and control evoked by the death penalty in the tithing/taxation decree of the Roman occupiers in ancient Israel is not different from the fear and control evoked by the threat of eternal damnation being preached by churches today in respect of failure to pay tithes. It is all evil and black magic in the eyes of the One True God, the Creator of the Heavens and the Earth. One last "word" on tithing. Ninety-nine percent of those who parade themselves today as "men of God" and who own churches would not have qualified nor been allowed into such self-serving positions during the time of the Apostle Paul of Tarsus.
In conclusion, I'd say that enough insight has here been provided to enable sound and balanced decisions by the tax authorities and the churches. I will, in addition, call on all Church leaders to hearken to the wise counsel of Christ and the Apostles and return to the path of love, truth, selflessness and service and stop the evil practice of tithing which has greatly aided the encroaching darkness and imbalance in our world today. Let Church members give to the service of God from their own hearts of love and selflessness and freewill, but not through the forced taxation called tithing. May the blessings be !!!
*Nsiegbe is a civil engineer resident in Port Harcourt and vice president (media and public relations of The Way Of Truth - A Path To God-Realization (Nigeria).
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