Texas Has a Nitwit In It

It's sad, truly sad, when people go out of their way to show just how backwards and ignorant they truly are.

Unitarian Universalists have for decades presided over births, marriages and memorials. The church operates in every state, with more than 5,000 members in Texas alone.

But according to the office of Texas Comptroller Carole Keeton Strayhorn, a Denison Unitarian church isn't really a religious organization -- at least for tax purposes. Its reasoning: the organization "does not have one system of belief."

Never before -- not in this state or any other -- has a government agency denied Unitarians tax-exempt status because of the group's religious philosophy, church officials say. Strayhorn's ruling clearly infringes upon religious liberties, said Dan Althoff, board president for the Denison congregation that was rejected for tax exemption by the comptroller's office.

"I was surprised -- surprised and shocked -- because the Unitarian church in the United States has a very long history," said Althoff, who notes that father-and-son presidents John Adams and John Quincy Adams were both Unitarians.

His church is just one of several Unitarian congregations in North Texas, including churches in Fort Worth, Arlington and Southlake.

They grow just about everything big in Texas except, it seems, brains.

Since Strayhorn took over in January 1999, the comptroller's office has denied religious tax-exempt status to 17 groups and granted them to more than 1,000, according to records obtained by the Star-Telegram. Although there are exceptions, the lion's share of approvals have gone to groups that appear to have relatively traditional faiths, records show.

But of the denials, at least a fourth include less traditional groups, the records show. In addition to the Denison Unitarian church, the rejected groups include a Carrollton group of atheists and agnostics, a New Age group in Bastrop, and the Whispering Star Clan/Temple of Ancient Wisdom, an organization of witches in Copperas Cove.

Some of the denials occurred because of missing paperwork or other problems, according to the comptroller's office. A few, like the denial for the New Age group and the witches group, were decided because their services were closed to the public, according to documents.

But the denials of the Red River Unitarian Universalist Church in Denison and the North Texas Church of Freethought in Carrollton, as well as an earlier denial by Sharp for the Ethical Culture Fellowship of Austin, were ordered because the organizations did not mandate belief in a supreme being.

Of course, then Buddhism, Taoism and a whole host of other eastern religions would be denied tax exempt status. I suppose I should cut Strayhorn some slack. I grew up in the bible belt. I was raise to spend my whole life in one very narrow groove. There was a time I didn't have a concept that there were any other valid ways to look at the world other than what I was brought up to believe, let alone know anything about Unitarians or that they existed at all. I've learned a lot since then. I've explored various paths of belief, and learned enough to know one thing: you could fill the universe with the stuff that I don't know.

Still, it was my friend Scott who introduced me to the Unitarian Universalist denomination. And it was a good thing for me, because it changed my view of religious people at a time when anyone belonging to an organized religion would have sent me running in the opposite direction. Nowadays, a Unitarian church is about the only kind of church I feel even remotely comfortable in. I know I'm going to be welcome there, and that my family is going to be welcome. But that's because of what the Unitarians promote:

1. The inherent worth and dignity of every person;


2. Justice, equity and compassion in human relations;


3. Acceptance of one another and encouragement to spiritual growth in our congregations;


4. A free and responsible search for truth and meaning;


5. The right of conscience and the use of the democratic process within our congregations and in society at large;


6. The goal of world community with peace, liberty, and justice for all;


7. Respect for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part.

Sounds crazy, doesn't it? Certainly you can see why Strayhorn would want to do whatever she could to protect the good people of Texas from such ideas. Nothing personal, but I think Strayhorn's tinfoil hat is on just a little too tight.

Comments

[sam]

I don't disagree with you at all about this situation, but can a person get through a blog entry mentioning Texas without making derogatory comments about how stupid Texans are? Geez.

[Katharine]

All I can say is that I would be very surprised if Texas didn't get smacked harder than it ever thought it would be over this. Unitarians, though smaller than some denominations, tend to be exceedingly well-educated and influential people. I think they've messed with the wrong group.

[Gale]

as a UU Texan, it is not surprising to have this happen. I've been aware of this situation for a few months and following the court hearings, etc. Katharine says Texas will get smacked for this - the thing is, there is no smacking to be done, unfortunately. The courts can, and probably will, overturn the comptroller's decision. But there is no penalty for what has been done. Hopefully the institutions involved can have their litigation costs recovered, but even that isn't guaranteed.

[Mur]

Thanks for alerting me to this (found your page through Katharine's blog) - I'm a North Carolina UU, and I have the same opinions of the church, and organized religion, that you do. I wish I could figure out something to do or someone to write to about this, but my senators and reps. really aren't going to care about Texas. About all I can really do is tell my church about it, maybe my minister will know if we can do anything.

[Raven]

The Victoria Advocate, Tuesday, May 25th, 2004:

Strayhorn reverses herself on church's tax status

Reversing an earlier decision, state Comptroller Carole Keeton Strayhorn said Monday that a Unitarian church in Denison on the Texas-Oklahoma border will get tax-exempt status. ...

[Raven]

Link:
http://www.thevictoriaadvocate.com/local/local/story/1944373p-2252261c.html