![]() These traditions continued uninterrupted in the early American republic. The equity tradition gave churches another chance ecclesiastical and charitable organizations could be tax exempt. The common law tradition was restricted to certain types of church property of established churches, and the exemptions could be put on hold during times of emergency. Past tax exemptions are rooted in two traditions: the common law adopted from England that granted exemptions to established churches, and the equity law tradition that granted exemptions to all churches. However, the Court’s neutrality argument does not address constitutionality, its separatism argument is contrived, and historically, only established religions have been exempt from taxation. The Court argued from neutrality, separatism, and history to state that tax exemption of church property is part of an unbroken national tradition. Commission charted a course between the free exercise and establishment clause. The practice of taxing church property while exempting other nonprofit groups appears to violate the “no special burden” principle of the free exercise clause. ![]()
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