IRS denial of SRS deduction based on religion

[Kate Thomas]

The IRS is reaching for any reason it can pull out of the air to deny an srs deduction. 
Creating a loophole of its own design it had to resort to "family values" as defined by a religous "magazine"
http://www.firstthings.com/

Kate Alice

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2006/04/16/INGOLI8NRI1.DTL

The IRS treated gender reassignment surgery as similar to voluntary cosmetic surgery, the purpose of which is to affect appearance rather than to change the function of part of the body. Left unexplained is how removal of the testicles and penis and their replacement with a vagina is more appearance -- than function -- related.

Almost gratuitously, the IRS went on to question whether this surgery really is a treatment for an illness or disease. For this proposition it cites an article, not from the New England Journal of Medicine, Lancet, or any similarly respected medical publication, but rather from a magazine called First Things.
First Things is published by the Institute on Religion and Public Life, which describes itself as "an interreligious, nonpartisan research and education institute whose purpose is to advance a religiously informed public philosophy for the ordering of society."

The IRS should not allow religious views to impact the administration of our tax laws. It should base its interpretations of the tax law on the code, the regulations and the court cases interpreting them and not take certain words out of their clear contextual function to serve a particularly narrow notion of "family values," if family values should come into play at all.

Posted at: April 21, 2006, 10:52:55 PMrelated links

http://taxprof.typepad.com/taxprof_blog/2006/01/irs_no_medical_.html

http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-wd/0603025.pdf

[Jennifer72]

OMG!!!!! Will the stupidity never end?!?!?! I can't belive that.... no... wait that's wrong... I can belive it. How can we progress our society or as humans, when things like this happen? Who are these people? What is family values? I won't bash anyone's religious views, but I must question the term "family values"! What are family values and who deermines these values? This just makes me hoppin' mad!!! Not only that, where does the IRS get off on bringing religion into the tax code?!?! ARRRRRGGGGGHHHHH!!!! And just how is SRS a cosmetic surgery, rather than a treatment of a very serious condition?!?!? ARRRRGGGGHHHHH!!!!

Rant finished.... *breathe deeply*.... calming, finding my center...

Jennifer

[Chaunte]

Make sure you contact your government representatives and voice your opinion.

Chaunte

[jaded]

that is ridiculously ridicules i consider myself a religious guy i still cant believe that the lord can possibly hate any good person just for being a lgbt (he created us this way) but thats not that point the church is supposed to be separated from government isnt it?

[Jennifer72]

Jaded, I agree. Church and state must be seperate. I think that people have a right to belive the way they want, but when you force it down our throats! Ugh! While not being christian myself I believe the same as you.

Jennifer

[Dennis]

Well, I'm claiming my SRS on my taxes this year. We'll see what our (new conservative) Canadian government does. If they pull any bs like this though they'll find themselves in court pretty damn fast and I'll find myself with a brand new hobby.

Dennis

[HelenW]

An interesting side to this issue is the author of the article in "First Things" that was referenced by the IRS ruling.  His name is Paul McHugh and is (was?) the head of the psychology department at Johns Hopkins.  The man who was primarily responsible for killing off gender reassignment treatment at that hospital.  He actually brags about it in some of his interviews and writing.  I include him with the Blanchard/Baily/Lawrence cabal that have damaged the lives of transsexuals so terribly with their influential but misguided theories.

I sometimes think that some psychologists and psychiatrists have a real problem with the fact that they cannot "cure" gender dysphoria.  I believe it irks them so much that they can't figure out how to "fix" it (because they assume it needs "fixing").  They would rather have untold thousands in misery or worse as a salve to their egos:  "If I can't fix it then it must not exist!" seems to be their motivation.

This man is also on the President's council on bio-ethics (or whatever the official title is).  I think that's the ultimate connection between him and this ruling.  He was also instrumental in formulating the rational behind the Vatican announcement that transsexualism does not exist.  Make no mistake that conservative Christianity (Caltholic as well as Evangelical) is our enemy and would have us disappear or worse, if they could.  And the Republican party has been hijacked by these people.  So, when you have the opportunity, register and vote these people out of office.

helen

[Chaunte]

This man is also on the President's council on bio-ethics (or whatever the official title is).  I think that's the ultimate connection between him and this ruling.  He was also instrumental in formulating the rational behind the Vatican announcement that transsexualism does not exist.  Make no mistake that conservative Christianity (Caltholic as well as Evangelical) is our enemy and would have us disappear or worse, if they could.  And the Republican party has been hijacked by these people.  So, when you have the opportunity, register and vote these people out of office.

helen

One of the advantages to being a registered Republican is that I can cast my vote in the primaries to help steer the party away from the track that it is on.  And, in the general elections, I always go for the candidate best qualified to serve.

Many years ago, a had a discussion about making changes from within a system.  The advantage of being inside the system is that you are thought of as being "one of us" instead of being "one of them"  This is true if it is politics, industry or whatever. 

It is easy to ignore "one of them" because they obviously don't understand!  They are not "one of us!" 

If you are inside the system, your voice (and vote) carries a bit more weight.  If you are "one of us" and making a suggestion, then it means more.  After all you understand the system because you are "one of us!"

Changes are slow, but they can/do happen.  It took a long time for the Religious Right to make their mark on US politics.  (Think Silent Majority from the Viet Nam era.)  It will take just as long to steer the party back to where it should be.  It's why I remain a Republican, though the present stance of the party is a looooong ways from mine.

Chaunte

[jaded]

jennifer most likely you agree with me because you are not christian neither am i
i do however  respect the religion as long as these people dont bother us (lgbt and those woman who have the right to an abortion)which is rarly the case
i found what helen wrote very interesting and disturbing , she is right we need to go out there and vote against these so called god loving cathlics and evangelical christians that believe they should make our lives miserable because they think thats what jesus wants (go figure)
it says in the bible to love your neighbor as yourself these people must really hate themselves
again im not talking about those few christians that accept us

[Jennifer72]

Jaded, LOL! You are absolutely right though. I think that it is not so much the people following, rather the people that lead these overly conservative and evangelical churches that are truly dangerous. Unfortunately, the people that follow, typically are well.... sheep. From what I have seen, they are controled in almost every aspect of their lives. Rather cultish if you ask me. I follow the old ways myself. "And it harm none" has a special meaning for me. I just wish that these people weren't so far bent on having control of everybody's lives. Because our "president" is a born again evangelical christian, *cough***...*cough**..*hitler*. Oops, sorry allergies started up again! These things are bound to take control. After the last presidential election, I woke up to discover that we live in a land of two-legged cattle. So definitely get out and vote people!!!

Jennifer

[jan c]

"...to advance a religiously informed public philosophy for the ordering of society."

hey Jen, Adolph'd be impressed doncha think?

[jaded]

jenn you crack me up

[Chaunte]

Posted by: Jennifer72 
Insert Quote
Jaded, LOL! You are absolutely right though. I think that it is not so much the people following, rather the people that lead these overly conservative and evangelical churches that are truly dangerous. Unfortunately, the people that follow, typically are well.... sheep. From what I have seen, they are controled in almost every aspect of their lives. Rather cultish if you ask me. I follow the old ways myself. "And it harm none" has a special meaning for me. I just wish that these people weren't so far bent on having control of everybody's lives. Because our "president" is a born again evangelical christian, *cough***...*cough**..*hitler*. Oops, sorry allergies started up again! These things are bound to take control. After the last presidential election, I woke up to discover that we live in a land of two-legged cattle. So definitely get out and vote people!!!

Jennifer
Posted on: Today at 02:08:10 PMPosted by: jaded 
Insert Quote
jennifer most likely you agree with me because you are not christian neither am i
i do however  respect the religion as long as these people dont bother us (lgbt and those woman who have the right to an abortion)which is rarly the case
i found what helen wrote very interesting and disturbing , she is right we need to go out there and vote against these so called god loving cathlics and evangelical christians that believe they should make our lives miserable because they think thats what jesus wants (go figure)
it says in the bible to love your neighbor as yourself these people must really hate themselves
again im not talking about those few christians that accept us

[/size]

Jaded & Jennifer,

Being Catholic, I find the comparison between Christianity to being a Nazi quite offensive.  We Christians don't lump all athiests as Communists.  Kindly return the favor.

The "Religious Right," which I will readily admit to taking jabs at, is a political extension of Christian fundamentalism.  My jabs are pointed at their political activities, not their religious beliefs.

The reason W won the last election is because we are in the middle of a war.  Granted, it was started under false pretenses.  Nevertheless, historically, Americans will hold on to current leadership during a time of war - even if it is bad leadership.  This was true in WWII, Viet Nam and now Iraq.  It has NOTHING to do with Americans being told who to vote for by their religious leaders.

Chaunte

[Dennis]

To be fair, Chaunte, Jaded has repeatedly said that he is not talking about christians who do not oppress people. The fact that the political leaders are christians of a particular type and are using political power to press their christian agenda makes it fair game to point out that that's what they're doing.

Dennis

[Chaunte]

Fair enough and point well taken.  If I have offended, I do apologize.

Chaunte

[HelenW]

The "Religious Right," which I will readily admit to taking jabs at, is a political extension of Christian fundamentalism.  My jabs are pointed at their political activities, not their religious beliefs.

My problem is that the religious beliefs held by Conservative Christians are the motivation behind their political activities.  They have adapted the idea that because theirs is "the way, the truth and the life" that their political opinions are the only ones that count.  It is the inherent fundamentalist self-riteousness that flows through all of their activities that irks me.

They have become the modern Pharisees, the holders and protectors of Established Dogma.

helen

[jaded]

thank you dennis and Chaunte i believe that their is  no right or wrong religion
when it comes down to it we believe that their is a god and even if you dont believe in a god i think all of us can agree that our most important goal in life is to be good people thats  what the old &new testiment says  and the koran as well

[Kate]

i think all of us can agree that our most important goal in life is to be good people...

After speaking with an evangelical friend, I'm told that "being good people" is NOT the most important goal for evangelicals. All that matters is being "saved," and being saved has nothing to do with good works, good behaviour, etc. What someone DOES, who they are, how they act, kindness, generousity, humility, compassion, love... are all besides the point. All that matters is joining and spreading the religion. You can slaughter every kitten in the world, yet still be "saved" and get into heaven. Likewise, you can be the most wonderful, kind, caring person ever... but if you don't sign up to be saved, you're going to hell.

THATS what terrifies me about the administration using evangelical "morals" as a guidepost for law making.

At least that's what I'm told. Correct me if I'm wrong

[Jennifer72]

Chaunte, I'm sorry that I wasn't more clear in my post. I didn't mean to offend. However, I was attacking the president. I don't believe that all Christians of whatever flavor you choose, are bad or anything like that. I have heard Bush say some scary things that almost parallel what Hitler said back in the early thirties. And look at our new Attorney General! The man believes that the Geneva convention is outdated and should be thrown out!...I'd better stop now or I'm gonna start to rant on and on...   Helen, I totally agree with you. Last but not least, Jaded, I'm glad that I could provide you with some laughs!

P.S. I should say that I think that all people are entitled to belive what they believe. I also think that the IQ of this country has gone to h*** in a handbasket. I happen to belive in seperation of church and state and my biggest fear is that we will soon lose all our freedoms because people can't think for themselves. I leave you all with this quote from the movie Wag the Dog, "I saw it on television, so it must be true!"
Peace to all,

Jennifer