Now it is a fact of human nature that people tend to trust religious organizations more than secular ones. Even with all the debacles that have occurred under the heading of religion (Catholic Church suppressing information and even protecting child molesters, anything dealing with the Westboro Baptist Church etc.), we still seem to put an inordinate amount of trust in religious institutions.
So with this as a given, the idea that our government may give preferential treatment to Religious Non-Profits over Secular Non-Profits is believable. Also given some of the Secular Non-Profit disasters that have occurred fairly recently, it easy to understand how we might be a little leery of any Charity that isn't "endorsed" by God.
However, if the US government is giving preferential treatment when it comes to rules and regulations to Religious NP over Secular NP there is a problem IMNSHO (For those who aren't up to speed on Me Speak, that stands for In My Not So Humble Opinion.) The above article alleges that RNPs are allowed to slide on Record Keeping/Rule Keeping while SNP are held to a much higher standard. It claims that SNP are forces to follow the rules for Non-Profit groups while RNP essentially get a free pass.
If this is true, then the problem needs to be fixed. RNP should be held to the same rules and standards of SNP. They both do the exact same things pretty much the exact same way. The only difference between them is one is church based and one is not. The rules and laws have to apply to everyone equally under the terms they operate under (In this case, the terms for Non-Profit Groups.)
So if group X from Our Holy Mother of the Great Spaghetti Monster Second Dunking Donuts Church operates a Non-profit then it has to follow the same rules and regulations as the Fraternal Order of Left Handed Ginger Peasnappers Local Order #185. It is really that simple.
Now I am not saying that Religious Non-Profits should be penalized or that Secular Non-profits should be given more leeway. I am just saying, with all other forces remaining equal, if you do the same things and do them correctly then you should all follow the same rules.
May The Great Spaghetti Monster spread his noodley goodness over all of you.
End of rant
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