I’d agree that a lot of people just like to snitch for validation or they just do it to troll. I think a lot of the time it is less about a love of reporting and more about what they get. There are people though who don’t have secrets, or honestly believe they don’t. Many, perhaps most of us tolerate “wrong” when we see it because we know we have things we get away with and want to continue. If we aren’t being harmed in a tangible way we tend to ignore the wrongs of others, and exposing them can sometimes expose us. So some people just want to live in a world they see as “right” or where people follow the rules. Of course, I think most often tattling is a weapon. Democrats love exposing Republican scandal and vice versa because it weakens a competitor or someone they don’t like. Unless two people from the same party are campaigning against each other they are very unlikely to go around outing each other’s indiscretions and illicit activities. A lot of people actively dislike religion…
.. or organized religion. Or they simply don’t like the political message being sent and one way to “silence” that message and “punish” those who’s views they don’t like is to use the system to report them. It’s far less likely anyone would raise a stink if a pastor was supporting a party that person also supports- possible, but less likely. Republicans gave Trump credit for Obama policies that people liked and Democrats tried to pin things like unliked immigration policies on Trump that were enacted under Obama- but you didn’t really have the men themselves or their inner circles standing up saying “no, I own this bad thing” or “no, this credit doesn’t belong to me for this good thing…”
The truth is often used as a weapon, many or most people are fine with wrong or lies so long as it suits them.
It is a personal question what constitutes “tattling” or “snitching,” some of us would say that reporting ANYTHING to the authorities is tattling- but most people are going to report it to the authorities if their life is in danger and they have no reasonable way to protect themselves, or if they are stollen from etc. So we are prone to see the complaints of others as frivolous if those complaints don’t align to our values. A car lover might see a person calling a smog violation tip line as pointless reporting to “snitch” and a kid cheating on a test might see another kid reporting them as pointless, or other kids who sympathize might feel that way etc. because they don’t see the harm or they don’t see where that is the business of the person reporting it.
Ultimately the church did wrong, and not obscure wrong- the divorce of politics from tax exempt religious organizations is important on many levels. It’s something the government is very transparent about and the IRS routinely publishes plainly worded and easy to understand notices reminding such organizations what they are or are not allowed to do to maintain their status. To those who believe in church we can say it is like allowing a doctor to tell you you will be denied life saving care if you don’t follow their political prescription. To tax payers it is theft when others don’t pay what they owe when they could, but keep it for themselves and force us to pay for their use. In a broader sense, it’s a protection that prevents overtly political organizations from abusing religious exceptions.
So I’m not saying I support snitching or that if snitch in this case or the opposite, but I think that this goes beyond a simple joy from reporting to authority and walks a line where it’s either a person trying to uphold some measure of right and protect society, and/or a person who weaponized the system to penalize a view or organization they don’t agree with.
Also, the guy they’re talking about, Greg Locke, has been all over the news lately for all sorts of insanity —in addition to stating that democrats can’t be Christians, he’s hosted book burning events and called out people as witches. And then there’s the tax thing.
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· 1 year ago
How is it snitching to report tax fraud? Would it be snitching to report on someone stealing your shit?
Granted this only works on certain churches. If it's a regular church it'll do nothing since they're following the rules. Just so everyone is aware churches, all tax exempt organizations, do still have to pay some taxes called Non Ad Valorem tax. This covers things like emergency services, utilities(local infrastructure), lighting....etc. That's not to say some aren't abusing the exemptions but it runs similar in frequency to normal businesses that commit tax fraud.
Thankfully, very few churches do this. Most of us genuinely don't want to mix politics with faith. That said, on those occasions when it does, it's just as likely to swing either direction.
If it's a mega-church and your pastor has a private jet, go for it. if it's a small church in the middle of bumfuck nowhere, where they actually try and help, don't do it.
The guy (Greg Locke) this report is about is awful and has been all over the news, local and National. He’s part of a small church, but he’s not trying to help. He’s purposefully breeding fear and hate. He’s hosting book burnings and calling people witches.
The truth is often used as a weapon, many or most people are fine with wrong or lies so long as it suits them.