Annie-Laurie Gaylor from the Freedom from Religion foundation: God's tax-evaders

Consider the statement "I can be good without god" - This statement is simply an affirmation that religious people do not hold a monopoly on good behavior. This statement was printed on a recent poster campoaign organized by the Freedom from Religion foundation - an organization intended to preserve the separation of Chruch and Sstate in America. The adverts featured photos of local members of the foundation alongside their simple statements like the one I just mentioned. I spoke with Annie Laurie Gaylor, co-president of the Freedom from Religion foundation - I begin by asking her to explain how a church in Ohio tried to censor her foundation's ad campaign ... --- Had it not been for their attempt to censor the Freedom From Religion Foundation's campaign this particular church's tax evasion might never have been discovered. There's a satisfying irony in that, however it's sobering to consider the possible extent to which religious organizations might be evading their duty to pay their fair share of tax. SF for the PD --- Q. It's amazing to me that a poster campaign simply saying "I can be good without god" can ruffle so many feathers, your recent campaign featuring one of your members from Columbus Ohio met with opposition from a local church, can you explain why a church forced you to move your poster advert? - Just after the basic story - Can you explain, that the curch complained about the use of their land for the advertising campaign Q. When I first read about your story on the FFRF website, it occurred to me that Christians are some of the easiest to troll people in the world. This particular church found your advert offensive, but really there's nothing offensive about mentioning that non-religious people can be as good as religious people - why do you think this advert caused so much offense to the good people of Christ Cathederal Chruch? - Insecurity? - Double standards? Q. So the church complained to the advertising company, and they had to move your sign - and you got some free publicity, but that was not the end of the story - - Can you explain how FFRF came to discover that the Cathedral had not been paying tax on the commercial property Q. For the most part, American churches can conduct their business tax-free, but in this case they over-stepped the mark - is this yet another example of a religious organization seeking privaliges that they'd happily deny to others? - Can you explain a little about what kinds of religious activity are tax-exempt - Feel free to speculate about the extent to which religious organizations are taking tax-breaks they are not legally entitled to! You had a bizarre response from the Christian Post who complained that the FFRF was an "out-of-state organization" that ahd "no legal standing to bring a tax claim against the Ohio church" - are you gloating over an act of petty revenge as the Christian Post suggests? - Obviously it's not you bringing the action but Franklin County's own tax auditors who clearly do have stnading. - Can you use your Render unto Ceasar quote?