TAXATION OF RELIGIONS

It was once strongly suggested to me there was no realistic way a government could tax religions. I guess the idea was that such a "monopoly" or power base (such as organized religion) could organize itself such that they could bring any amount of pressure necessary on the government to make them relent in their attempts to tax religions. (After all, they could bring the power of god to bear upon the government and if you didn't agree your immortal soul would be in peril). After that discussion with my brother Tom (he who suggested this), I left with the feeling his point of view had some merit, but he was perhaps simply missing my vision of how things might be different on my world. For one thing, the very idea of tax-free religions may never have arisen as it did in our society. For another, I felt the non-taxation of religion might have historically come about in our society for reasons that simply didn't exist on my world. Most notably, the fact there are so many different religions and pantheons side by side on Orlantia, the fact they are not likely to always cooperate with one another, and the fact things are more in the realm of fact than of faith may all have surprising consequences. (Not to mention the government didn't arise from people looking for religious freedom). Also, in a polytheistic system, I imagine there is something akin to fierce competition for customers (worshipers), and thus a religion cannot always threaten one with loss of their immortal soul since they could always go to another less damning religion. Therefore, religions simply do not have the kind of power to organize "everyone" to help them force the government into line.

Naturally, without being an expert into the historical reasons why religions had escaped taxation in our society, and without being able to really test my worldview in anything resembling reality, one can never truly know how things might work out. Thus, as with most things, I simply make up what I want and try to explain it.

Here on Orlantia, it is a fact all religions within the Alodarian Empire are taxed 10% of their income (whether generated via donations, sold services or business holdings). They may pay this tax with coin or services at an agreed upon value. With so many religions competing in such close quarters, a sort of supply and demand force is in operation and the fair market value of their services is pretty standard, even if it is extraordinarily high and beyond the price range of most people. Religions could even get into a price war with one another with the Empire taking the best value. This would give that religion a higher profile in Alodarian society and generate more worshipers for their deity, and the other religions can't stand for that. So there is actual competitive, economic and social pressures involved in fixing the price of spells. Naturally, a lower limit is eventually reached where a compromise must be made between gaining followers and no longer granting the deity the proper respect (usually with a minimum amount of money expended in their praise). As a result of all this, though none of this is formally agreed upon, the cost of clerical spells is pretty much standard for those of similar dispositions (similar alignments and/or religious affiliations), and the government usually gets spells and services at this price, as if they were a member in good standing, from each church.

And all of this came about since to do so otherwise would have led to no taxation on any religion or, even worse, an unfair and disproportionate taxation on certain religions. It is no small wonder the founding fathers avoided the problems of favoring one religion over another; that would almost certainly have led to holy wars, and they had already had their fill of war for the moment. So why didn't they just make religions tax-free? Oddly enough, that too would have been unfair to the "non religious" or less religiously inclined (not to mention the small point they would have missed an opportunity to obtain a fairly steady source of income).

So on Orlantia, historically, it came to pass that all religions would be fairly and equally taxed just as if they were private citizens (10% of their annual income). Of course, this means a citizen (or even an adventurer living within the Empire) is taxed 10% by the government (for its own purposes) and they must tithe (10%) of their gross income to their church as well (and 10% of that 10% will end up in the Empire's coffers, so the company has a sweet deal going there since they really end up with 11% of your earnings). Thus, private citizens and adventurers as well are usually allowed to keep 80% of their liquid assets (this is of their net annual income in coins, gems, jewelry, notes, investments returns, or anything of such a nature it is generally considered as good as cash, but frequently excludes magic unless they convert it to cash by selling it for such, though trading it for other magic is a way around this tax).

Most of the time it is far more desirable for the church (as we will refer to it in the singular, though there are numerous churches and religions) to pay their taxes in services. This typically takes the form of casting spells for the community at the government's directions, casting spells for other governmental reasons and/or personnel, supplying field clerics (aka medics and doctors) in times of war, or holding classes for the community's children to teach them certain fundamental skills the government insists their citizens should know (like how to read and write the common language and do simple, commerce oriented arithmetic). The church complies in this way since they must pay their taxes one way or the other, and by doing it with services, they maintain a high profile in the community and take personal credit for their religion when the credit should properly be given to the Empire. (And it's always nice since most religions want their followers to be able to read as well; the written word of religious doctrine being quite important). Still, the Empire doesn't complain about not getting credit for its good works in this regard since they have determined this generates more donations to local religions and that in turn generates more taxes for them. If the credit was given to the company (the government), it is unlikely the citizens would feel any need or obligation to give them more in taxes, but giving the church more may better one's position in the after life (or so it is generally believed).

Then we come to the question of why certain religions (most notably those of good alignment) don't render their services and cast their spells for free. It may even seem wrong to you that a lawful good church wouldn't raise farmer Brown's young daughter for free after she was tragically killed in a wagon accident, but the consequences of doing so would be horrific. Firstly, everyone and his brother would be demanding services for the littlest of things (and without paying proper respect to the deity to boot). If you give the masses something for free, it then becomes a sort of "right" instead of a "generous gift." And why should one give thanks and praise for obtaining what you have the "right" to get anyway? Quite simply, you wouldn't; no need to thank someone for giving you what "belongs" to you in the first place. (In fact, if it isn't forth coming then those who withhold it become a bunch of jerks and people to be resented rather than respected).

Thus it was established long ago the supernatural services of the church would cost some serious money in donations. That way, the church isn't swamped with frivolous demands since everyone knows they must first have the cash to even ask for that kind of help. Also, since the after life (and death) are a big part of what makes a religion go 'round, they have the opportunity to teach the masses that death is just a stepping stone to the next life (and in general, this makes death a sorrowful thing, but not as fearful an aspect for one who faces it without certainty of an afterlife). In this way the church isn't inundated with request to bring someone back from the dead. Only those who can afford it (and only if they feel they can better their "positions" in the after life by further good works in this life) will generally even make the attempt to be brought back from the dead. After all, if you know up front it will cost you half a million dollars (just for the attempt), the vast majority of people will not be able to pay that and must (and therefore do) take solace in the fact their loved ones have moved on to the next stage in their existence. Naturally, adventurers tend to want to be brought back since a). they have probably died before their time (again!), b). it is likely they will continue to rise in level and better their position in their religion, and c). they typically may have (if they are successful) the 5,000 GP required.

Besides the 5,000 GP price tag ($5,000,000) for a Raise Dead, other well known prices for spells might include the 50 GP ($5,000) for a Cure Light Wounds spell, or the frequently needed though barely affordable 1,000 GP ($100,000) for a Cure Disease spell. Compared to a modern hospital bill and/or a life time of paying for medications, that's not so unreasonable when you see what it can buy you (though medical insurance is unheard of, so you have to have the cash yourself). However, unlike modern Earth based medicine, these magic spells will usually always work. Thus, you don't end up paying an arm and a leg to treat cancer or some other disease only to prolong your life a few months and then die anyway. If one is going to shell out $100,000 for a cure disease spell, then they may as well get the cure they actually hoped for. In this respect, the community at large appreciates the value of these things. Finally, other commonly sold spells might include Cure Blindness (which corrects color blindness, near and far sightedness, etc.), and certain blessings (which may have life long effects if done by the right religions). All of these things, though expensive, are still affordable by the masses and are frequently purchased. Communities even rally, at times, to help raise the needed money for a loved member of their parish.

The only exceptions to the rule that there is nothing supernatural given out for free would be when the government directs the clerics to heal or raise valued and highly productive members of the community, foreign dignitaries, company members (government employees), fallen soldiers (of exceptional quality) during a war, and a few others as partial payment for the churches' taxes. This isn't free since the government is essentially paying for it, but it sometimes appears free.

While on the topic of the masses paying for spells, I should mention the fact the church will not usually sell a spell to someone if they know that individual must borrow the money from someone other than their immediate family. They probably consider it wrong to allow one's family to go deeply into debt to buy something supernatural like a Raise Dead spell when it would be far better for the family to accept that inevitable part of life and take comfort in the teachings of the church. Of course, people who show up on their doorstep with the cash in hand are frequently not turned away, so there's always a way around that problem. This usually makes it possible for adventurers to be able to borrow the cash from their party members without the church looking too closely at it, even if one of their own clerics is in that group, since that is considered more of a normal business venture for them than an abnormal way to avoid death.

Finally, just so you know, as far as the PCs are concerned, they must either have the cash to obtain supernatural help, or they must befriend a priest who will agree to adventure with the party for their fair share of the treasure (aka, a PC or NPC cleric party member). With such a clerical comrade the "normal" costs of obtaining healing or the like is avoided as the cleric's share is assumed to pay for any spells they may cast. Even if their share is less than what would be expected from a temple, it is enough. This assumes, of course, the PC or NPC priest can cast the required spells themselves. The temple clerics will not cast it for them for free, so unless your party priest can cast a Raise Dead spell, for example, it will still cost you 5,000 GP to have a temple cleric cast it instead. (It is assumed the alignment of the cleric's party members is close enough since their own cleric is adventuring with them, so the multiplication factor on the cost for differing alignments is not required).

If the cleric or holy warrior (paladin) themselves require the spell, they will be able to have it cast for them at half normal cost (a benefit of being a cleric), and other party members at the behest of the party cleric may also get the spell for half now, but must promise to pay the other half as soon as possible (it is even assumed if they die in the attempt to earn the money, their debt is forgiven, unless, of course, they still manage to come back to life).

Under extraordinary circumstances, it may be possible for a group containing at least one member in "good standing" within a particular religion to obtain spells in exchange for being quested. That is, they may obtain a spell and then be sent on a quest (and under a quest spell) to pay for it, but this would only happen if the church had something in mind already or actually needed something done. They would not make up a quest simply so a character could pay for a spell. Thus, to "play it safe," one of the first things an adventurer likes to do is accumulate 5,000 GP and keep it at the temple (just in case). The temple will always return the cash if asked if you didn't need a spell before then, but it earns no interest or anything like that. In fact, if this is done, all temples of that church and all temples of closely related churches will know you have paid and will cast such a spell for you if they have the cleric who can do it handy.

For example, Athena and her "father" Zeus have such a special understanding, despite their differences in philosophy. So if you have a 5,000 GP credit at Athena's temples and you unfortunately die, your companions may obtain a Raise Dead spell for you at any church of Athena or any temple of Zeus. (The cash will eventually end up where it should, but the PCs needn't worry about it).