Focus on the Family Defends IRS Classification as a ‘Church,’ Says It’s Meant to Protect Donors
While I am not against the “nuclear family” per se, I am very much in opposition to how Christians and other conservatives have turned the nuclear family into an idol.
Conservatives revere the nuclear family (as well as natalism, motherhood, and marriage) to the detriment and exclusion of the childless, the infertile, the child-free, the widowed, the divorced, and the never married – anyone who does not fit their nauseating, preferred structure of society.
Christians don’t just “focus” on the family, they WORSHIP it – which is a sin. The Bible tells you not to put anything or anyone above your devotion to Jesus Christ, not even your flesh and blood family, but Christians ignore this.
(Link): Focus on the Family Defends IRS Classification as a ‘Church,’ Says It’s Meant to Protect Donors
By Michael Gryboski , Christian Post Reporter | Apr 20, 2018 11:39 AM
Focus on the Family is defending its decision to have the Internal Revenue Service officially reclassify the Christian nonprofit as a “church,” denouncing the efforts of some to ascribe “sinister” intentions to the change.
An article published in February by the liberal group People for the American Way’s Right Wing Watch site documenting Focus on the Family’s reclassification has been getting extensive attention in recent weeks.
The piece noted that the Colorado-based conservative Christian organization has long identified as a non-church 501(c)(3) nonprofit. By 2015 fiscal year, it had been relabeled a “church.”
Paul Batura, vice president of communications for Focus on the Family, told The Christian Post that the news stories on their reclassification as a church give “sinister and fictitious motives to our application.”
Batura explained that the main reason for the reclassification was to protect the identities of donors to the conservative Christian organization.
… The Right Wing Watch piece took issue with Focus on the Family’s reasoning for being reclassified as a church, noting that the group labeled its 600 employees as “ministers” and their cafeteria, which is used for worship from time to time, as their “place of worship.”
“The organization’s board of directors are its ‘elders.’ It’s president, Jim Daly, is its ‘head deacon and elder.’ Listeners to the organization’s radio programs are ‘an extension of its congregation,'” (Link): stated the RWW article, which labeled the reclassification as a church “puzzling.”
Hemant Mehta, the main writer behind the Patheos blog the “Friendly Atheist,” wrote in an entry published earlier this week that he believed Focus on the Family “pulled some shady tricks to convince the IRS it’s a ‘church.'”
“Well, here’s Focus on the Family, declaring itself a church by stretching the definition of what that means to the point of parody. When other churches met most, but not all, of the IRS’ criteria, Focus on the Family compared themselves to those churches whenever it was convenient,” (Link): wrote Mehta.
In response to the criticism, Batura of Focus on the Family told CP that “if some of our critics object, they should take it up with Congress.”
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