Pete Buttigieg does not agree with Beto O’Rourke’s idea to strip religious institutions of their tax-exempt status.
Speaking on CNN’s State of the Union Sunday, Buttigieg, who is gay, said O’Rourke’s view that churches should be taxed if they don’t support same-sex marriage is a step too far.
“I agree that anti-discrimination law ought to be applied to all institutions, but the idea you are going to strip churches of their tax exempt status if they haven’t found their way toward blessing same-sex marriage, I’m not sure he understood the implications of what he was saying,” Buttigieg said.
The 37-year-old mayor of South Bend, Indiana, said that doing so would be tantamount to “going to war” with churches, mosques, and other religious organizations. He pointed out that not only would that violate separation of church and state, but it would also would nullify nonprofits in the country.
“If we want to talk about anti-discrimination law for a school or an organization, absolutely. They should not be able to discriminate. But going after the tax exemption of churches, Islamic centers, or other religious facilities in this country, I think that’s just going to deepen the divisions we are already experiencing,” he added.
The response comes just days after O’Rourke said he thinks churches should be taxed if they don’t support gay marriage.
“There can be no reward, no benefit, no tax break, for anyone or any institution, any organization in America that denies the full human rights and the full civil rights of every single one of us,” O’Rourke said Thursday at a CNN town hall on gay and transgender rights.
