Is there a church* on every corner of your neighborhood...along with the requisite homeless attempting to protect themselves from the elements amidst the trash strewn about the streets? Does the "Po-Po" lurk and leer from their air-conditioned vehicles with a diminishing glare until of course it’s time to Jack Your Azz Up…? Does your local grocer post pictures of the thieves? Does your local grocer have no windows and/or 100 cameras? Do you even have a local grocer? Well then, you live in a root center. And THAT IS FABULOUS!!!!! (but that is another post, sorry). This post is about one aspect of the root center...lets read on...
Look at how the parks and grounds are not properly maintained in our root centers? Also, look at how long it takes for emergency services or ANY services to arrive. Now take a look at the vacant buildings, vacant buildings create the look of destitution. A place needs thriving businesses to rent these vacant spaces. By filling these vacant spaces, we also fill the tax coffers for better streets and street/traffic signage, trash pick-up, and basic neighborhood maintenance. But we need more tax dollars in the mean-time. From where can we get this money? Take a look at the churches.
Did you know churches don't pay taxes**? Taxes help keep the city attractive. Attractive cities*** attract businesses. Businesses move in and jobs are created. Jobs bring workers and workers bring families, and families bring growth. This doesn’t happen if tax money is not being collected. If there are 10-20 churches within your root center, then that's 10-20 properties not contributing tax dollars for the healthy growth of our root centers.
Church members pay tithes and provide offerings to the church. The church takes these offerings to "the bank" for deposit. YOU, the parishioner of stated church, then go to "the bank" for a loan and you are denied the loan. Shouldn't there be some type of relationship developed since your church utilizes "the bank"? The church leadership could help to facilitate programs with the bank that assist to bring its parishioners into good financial standing in order to get that loan. Church money SHOULD work for the good of its parishioners, otherwise the church should move the money to a bank that is willing to offer healthy financial growth options. Since the church doesn't pay taxes then the head of the church could advocate on behalf of the immediate community in regards to helping to create/foster/maintain relationships with the greater community, ensuring the root center receives the same level of community services as say... the "white" side of town?
If you think this isn’t your church, then take a look outside the doors. How strong is your outreach ministry within the immediate local community? There’s lots of small churches within the root centers that may not have the financial strength yet to contribute in THAT way but daaayyuumm, can you at least pick up the trash directly outside of your doors? I mean really? Shouldn’t your doors at least be open according to your posted hours?
If your faith place is in order by way of the outreach ministry within the immediate local community directly outside of its doors then this isn’t a DIRECT reflection on you. However, because they are still your family and thus, your responsibility…feel free to police your own and move on.
I don't advocate for the taxing of churches. However, the churches within our root centers must be held accountable. Our root centers have 18-20 physical churches, many of them next door or across the street from one another. Since this is the case then the churches have an opportunity to collectively pick up the trash on the streets that the city won't pick up (or take their time doing so), ensure vacant lawns are mown so the community looks as if someone cares, open a collective effort soup kitchen/meal delivery, etc... basically, provide these services in place of the tax dollars and to keep the neighborhood looking well groomed. The church could send birthday cards to the local children on their birthdays, have monthly birthday parties and give out cupcakes, have team building events throughout the year for the community. These are just a few of the services needed to help build our communities. And with so many churches packed into our root centers, these simple community building programs can be easily implemented, with a want-to-spirit.
*any faith-based institution **there are some instances where taxes are paid
***tax breaks help as well
IndigenousNomad
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