UK Religious Charities Must Show 'Public Benefit'
by Qcmbr 4 Replies latest social current
-
-
AlphaOmega
Thanks for that link Qcmbr.
Here is the text...
UK Religious Charities Must Show 'Public Benefit' By Kevin McCandless
CNSNews.com Correspondent
August 31, 2007
London (CNSNews.com) - Religious charities in Britain will from next year have to show that they provide a "public benefit" or risk losing their government recognition.
Under sweeping new laws passed by parliament in late 2006, charities that promote religion, along with those dealing with poverty or education, have lost their long-standing automatic right to tax privileges.
In the future, they will have to prove each year that their activities have a "public benefit." The new requirement has prompted a number religious charities to voice concerns this summer.
Although the government is still drawing up an exact definition of "public benefit," a draft document released earlier this year broadly described it as an identifiable benefit to a section of the public, including low-income people.
The Lawyers' Christian Fellowship (LCF), one of the groups worried about the new law, says it is unclear how the change may affect charities that focus on evangelism or promote traditional teaching on the family.
LCF spokesman Thomas Cordrey said that the main problem was the uncertainty faced by charities as the government goes through a public consultation process, which is due to finish by January.
Government officials have said the new law is not an attempt to introduce "secularism through the back door." But Cordrey said it may come back to haunt religious groups in the future.
"The issue is that once you have dangerous wording in legislation, you're at the mercy of whoever is in power," he said.
Jon Benjamin, chief executive of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, said he was concerned about how charities that deal mainly with the Jewish community might be affected.
Government ministers said in parliament that charities focusing on their own religious groups would be protected, but Benjamin said it would be reassuring to have that commitment in black and white.
"Unless it's explicitly stated that way [in the law], you really don't have that safety net," he said.
The Charity Commission, the government body drawing up the new regulations, said in a statement Thursday that its aim is not to remove charitable status wholesale from any group of charities.
The commission said it was not implying that religious groups need to modernize their beliefs, but rather to ensure that they deliver a public benefit and are being made accountable.
Buddhist groups have said publicly that they are not worried about the new regulations and a British spokesman for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints said he was satisfied that charities sponsored by his church would meet the public benefit requirement.
A spokesman for the Evangelical Alliance, an umbrella group representing over one million evangelical Christians, said he did not believe the government was intent on making radical change.
Don Horrocks said the Charity Commission had been eager to work with the religious sector in drawing up the new guidelines.
He said the government had assured the Evangelical Alliance that the public benefit requirement would not be onerous, since there is ready acceptance that religion generally contributes to social and spiritual well-being.
While religious groups had to remain vigilant over the issue, he expressed optimism that charities would be able to meet the challenge.
"As things stand at the moment, I don't think there is much to worry about," he said.
Make media inquiries or request an interview about this article.
Subscribe to the free CNSNews.com daily E-Brief.
Send a Letter to the Editor about this article. -
Justitia Themis
I sense new light coming for the UK...JWs need to better copy Jesus example of feeding/clothing the poor. After all, before he gave his Sermon on the Mount, didn't Jesus first care for the crowds physical needs?
Justitia
-
fokyc
JW charitable status is a joke, there is NOTHING charitable about them,
it's just a TAX SCAM to put more money in their coffers,
fokyc
-
stillajwexelder
JWs will claim the WT contains life-saving information so is a public benefit