New Orleans, LA -. The Church Folk Revolution has just announced that a second lawsuit has been filed – challenging the tax exempt status of Prosperity Preachers.
When the Oxygen Network show Real Preachers of L.A. first took to the air the ratings for the show were off the charts, some would even say it set records for Gospel Programming. As Believers tuned in to watch the Pastors flaunt their lavish lifestyles two other unexpected group was also tuning in, the Internal Revenue Service and the Freedom From Religion Groups.
During the first season of the Preachers of L.A. fans of the show received unprecedented access to the lifestyles of pastors like Bishop McClendon, as the show captured his extravagant home, and luxury cars. Bishop Noel Jones even compared his fast pace lifestyle to Rap Stars, but there is one major issue with that comparison, Rap Stars like Jay-Z pay millions of dollars in Taxes.
As for high profile Prosperity preachers, the Real Preachers of L.A. really did all of the hard investigative work for Transparency Groups and Atheist Organization, who would like to see an end to the free lunches Pastors have enjoyed. While the Pastors were cruising through poor neighborhoods in their Bentleys, little did they know that they were being put under a microscope. But now the flamboyancy of the many Pastors will soon play out in another day time drama, but not in front of Judge Judy in some scripted People’s Court episode, but this time all of the rulings will be real and life changing.
The first blow to the life style of rich pastors came last November when U.S. District Judge Barbara Crabb ruled in favor of a lawsuit filed by the Madison-based Freedom From Religion Foundation, which claimed that clergy members have an unfair advantage in receiving untaxed income to pay for rental housing or home ownership and property taxes.
The second blow came earlier this week when the same court issued another ruling that would allow a lawsuit that could force all pastors to report every dime they receive or face prison time for tax evasion. The day of Pastors having members line up to give a $500 Love Offering could soon see someone at the end of that line with a Wal-Mart like cash register to track the taxes owed to the Internal Revenue Service.
IRS Takes a Closer Look at Prosperity Preachers was originally published on praiserichmond.com
