San Jose California Shutting Down Churches ?

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   ahorsebackposted 6 years ago

   For selling Pot ! The sales , now  legal in the state ,   are being conducted as " For  Donation " only to avoid the city and state sales taxes .  San Jose is supposedly losing  money in tax revenues .    Last year alone San Jose acquired  ten and a half million dollars in pot taxes .
   
   Freedom of religion ?   
   High on God  ?   
   Comments ?

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      Live to Learnposted 6 years agoin reply to this

      Churches selling pot. Now I've heard it all.

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      lovetherainposted 6 years agoin reply to this

      That's nonsense. Churches should have to pay taxes.

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      GA Andersonposted 6 years agoin reply to this

      Hi there ahorseback. I can't tell if you posted this as a news blast, a kudos to San Jose for enforcing the law, or a criticism of San Jose for going after "churches."
      
      Your topic, however, did cause me to ask my friend Google about it, and it seems that recognizing the two establishments in the controversy as "churches" would be quite a stretch.
      
      The most prominent one was the Coachella Valley Church, which opened in May, 2017. Here is how they describe themselves:
      
      "Staff and members of Coachella Valley Church, which opened in May, previously told the Resident sales and use of cannabis are exempt under the banner of religious freedom. Members use marijuana both in the downstairs chapel and on the church’s rooftop lounge as part of their Rastafari practice, they said.
      
      “It helps me to clarify my own mind, to get to my sense of purpose and start living my truth,” Grant Atwell, a shaman who also goes by his Native American name Star Touches Earth, said in a recent interview. Atwell occasionally speaks at the church’s weekly services and advocates the spiritual and medical use of marijuana." 
      The Mercury News newwspaper
      
      Then there was one that was a bit shadier, "The Citadel Church of La Puente," an illegal pot club turned church. Here is what SFGATE, a sister-website of the San Francisco Chronicle, noted about this "church:"
      
      "An underground Los Angeles-area pot club has given new meaning to the term "green cross."
      An illegal dispensary masquerading as a church ..."
      
      "... Approximately four to five pounds of marijuana, a scale and surveillance equipment was also seized from the dispensary, which has a license issued by the city of La Puente to repair cell phones."
      SFGATE, a sister-website of the San Francisco Chronicle
      
      It should also be noted that recreational pot use is not legal in San Jose until January 2018, and all sellers/dispensaries must be licensed by San Jose.
      
      So which was your take on the topic, a kudos to San Jose, or a blast for going after churches?
      
      GA

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         ahorsebackposted 6 years agoin reply to this

         I'm simply speaking to the general degeneration of crime , drug  , life and reality in ultra- liberal California law .   Churches  having "pie sales " instead of pot sales used to be the norm .  Remember ?      Like the old pie sales , I wonder if the churches in San Jose will now feed and clothe the hungry and naked in town ? No, I suspect not ...........They still do where I live .
         
         Instead the city sues  the church for pot revenues , the churches have elevated senses of ........well everything instead of sermons ,    and California people send pot money to pay off their state treasury , except California is the most indebted  state in the union ?
         
         No wonder the entire west is covered in smoke this summer in my RV. travels !   Idaho  , Montana , Wyoming , Colorado    .......and they blame it on forest fires ?
         Where I come from the bumper sticker ask's " GOT MILK ? " ........In California it must be  " GOT  BUD ?"

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   ahorsebackposted 6 years ago

   GA , As an interesting side note ,  A Church in Florida just posted signs on all of its doors , ........THIS IS NOT A GUN FREE ZONE , ...........meaning , someone in the church is likely carrying a weapon to defend it's peacefully attending  people.   
   
   Yet in Church In San Jose , perhaps we can have armed guards to guard against "crimes " committed by someone likely to steal pot or  pot sales cash proceeds at the doors ,  maybe they can wear those black bandellaro's over their shoulders  with khaki uniforms like they do below the border , you know , to guard the pot sales people ?
   
   Meanwhile  where I'm from ,........they still sell pies .
   
   California , definately something in the water !

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      GA Andersonposted 6 years agoin reply to this

      I understand your perspective ahorseback, but I think you are giving way too much credence to these entities claims to be "churches."
      
      I would imagine that bogus claims of being a "church" aren't unheard of in your life experience, it is not unheard of in mine. This is just the first time I have heard of it being used as cover for a "pot" operation. Although I think I do recall some controversy over peyote use.
      
      I have also heard a blurb or two about pastors/churches advertising or encouraging members to "carry" when they attend services. Quite a message, don't you think?
      
      I bet there are more than enough issues for a Conservative to use as clubs against California's political leanings and social lifestyles, you probably don't need these fake churches to use.
      
      GA

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         ahorsebackposted 6 years agoin reply to this

         Okay GA , I'll stop picking on Californians ,  it was fun though ,.........   hey what IF Jimmy Jones had  been in California recently ? Would .............no I won't go there .   What a world we baby -boomers have brought forth .

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            GA Andersonposted 6 years agoin reply to this

            I won't hold you to that ahorseback. California is like low-hanging fruit - just too many opportunities, (politically speaking), to ignore.
            
            GA

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               ahorsebackposted 6 years agoin reply to this

               Where do you live GA .....or for privacy you don't have to say .

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                  GA Andersonposted 6 years agoin reply to this

                  Maryland, The Eastern Shore. A Purple in a Blue state. I am outnumbered on both sides of the political spectrum.
                  
                  GA

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                     ahorsebackposted 6 years agoin reply to this

                     Ha !  .........but that's what makes you such a well rounded debater !

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                        GA Andersonposted 6 years agoin reply to this

                        Well thanks ahorseback, but I would think of it as just being a cautious curmudgeon.
                        GA ;-)

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   ahorsebackposted 6 years ago

   A voice of reason is never curmudgeonous  ,  the hard part is for those who delve into the issue head first to see that , most today never learned how to reason nor care to,    I think  I gave up on reason long ago and  went directly into attack mode .........
   
   I became a reasonable pit bull .

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