Hijacking donations to the church

Dear Editor,

Re: Church, Govt. tax dispute

I say hurray for the Pastors for standing up to the government, they are not for profit organizations, these are religious institutions and should be granted non profit status as they are serving the people and their religious beliefs. 

If they are not Non profit or charitable, then they should be put in that category. To tax them is an insult to the notion that they are a religious institution. 

The government has classified them as a business. This is an atrocious move by the government and shows the depth of depravity this government has sunk to, to put these persons who are serving in their religious capacity to improve the spiritual welfare of the villages, into the same category as a store or employee. This is the only western country I know of that is taxing its religious institutions. This is an attack on religion. 

The clergy have always been treated as a non-profit entity in the civilized world. But Samoa? 

The country most proud of its religious history that it included Faavae i le Atua Samoa in its Constitution and it is the only country to tax its clergy? 

How hypocritical. This is something I would expect from Communist China, Oh wait. Maybe there is a connection here. 

The foreign Chinese are communists and they have a lot of clout in Samoa, could it be? 

Are they influencing the government in this? 

Is this one of their demands that might appease their demand for repayment of the exorbitant loans we have made from China? 

Hmmmm. We will probably never know. 

But this smells like something from a non-religious country, not from Samoa. The donations given to a church are given freely. Taxing these donations is tantamount to stealing from the Lord. 

It is a show of disrespect to the beliefs of the members who made the donations with their faith in the blessings that were associated with the giving of a donation. But sadly that donation just got hijacked by the government. 

Pathetic and no class. Only in Samoa.

 

Namulauulu Albert Ainuu

Samoa Observer

Upgrade to Premium

Subscribe to
Samoa Observer Online

Enjoy unlimited access to all our articles on any device + free trial to e-Edition. You can cancel anytime.

>