Should Americans have the right to choose where their taxes are applied when it comes to religion?

Question

Namely, should they be allowed to check a box on their tax forms that reads something like "check here if you do not want your tax dollars applied to religious organizations, religious education, religious symbols on government lands, and government funded religious programs"?

Wouldn't it be reasonable to allow Americans the right to refuse to pay for something they don't believe in?

Answer 1

I'm sure after Jan. 2009 when there's a Democrat in power, you won't have to worry about Bush's "Faith-Based" program any longer. It's clearly a violation of the 1st amendment.

Answer 2

Though you have an interesting idea, to put it plainly tax money should never go to any form of religion or faith-based initiatives. The constitution, the treaty of tripoli, and the US vs. Emerson supreme court cases all very clearly state the the government should not support or promote any form of religion, this included giving tax money to any religious organization. There is a very clear reason we have a seperation of Church and State, to prevent any religious group from turning our country into a theocracy, but the religious right organizations in this country would like exactly that to happen. They want a country controlled by their fanatical view of religion, they want to overturn the seperation of church and state, and they want to remove the first amendment from the constitution, thus destroying freedom for everyone in this country and turning people who do not agree with their exact views into second class citizens with no rights. We should all stand up and let the government know that we do not want our tax money to go to religious organizations, and we do not want the government to control our religion and tell us what we can and cannot believe.

Answer 3

As long as by checking that box they were saying that they did not want their tax dollars to go to ANY religion, I would say that is a good idea.

If a person wanted to then give their dollars to a religious organization, they would still be free to do so. I personally do not like the idea that my tax dollars go to help fund organizations that would try to limit MY religious freedom so I would love it if I could say that NO religious group (including my own) could benefit from my tax money.

I would rather invest my own time and money in religious causes than have my money invested for me in something I object to......

Answer 4

The only problem is that if non-profit organizations don't do it (religious or otherwise) then the government will have to do it. And it will cost us ten times as much for the government to do a bad job. We need certain social programs. Allowing a lot of the work to be done by non-profits is a good investment.

How many atheist non-profits do we have helping people? IS there even one?

Answer 5

How about a checkbox where I can state I do not want my tax dollars to be applied to the support of supplemental checks to those who do not reside legally in my country. Or that I dont want my tax dollars to be applied to federal research using any animals. I do believe though, one day that might be a good possibility.

Answer 6

Absolutely! Honestly, I did not think that government funds went to support any religious endeavors-----seperation of church and state.

Shouldn't taxpayers be able to say if they do or do not want the money spent on:

public housing
health care systems
improved hiways
public education
medical research
vacations for the politicians and their guests
sattelites
military etc...etc
and my personal favorite...........what causes us to age..........
The Passing of Time is what causes us to age, yet the government spent billions, yes billions of dollars to study this.

I definitely think we should be able to say, " this is the program I wish to support"

Answer 7

I love the idea, and it would be proper separation of church and state, but there's probably not a single taxpayer who would be okay with every expenditure of tax funds.

Answer 8

seems reasonable though could see other sides argument. articles have mentioned problems with reliance only on religious charities that welfare has more of a chance as charities rest upon good will. welfare can be applied for.

Answer 9

The church and state should be seperated already, the question of religion should never come up in the first place.

Answer 10

Not really. That is why we have elections in this Republic. We vote for individuals to represent us and our views in government. I'm sorry if your views are not being represented.