# legal question about the Blues Brothers

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legal-question-about-the-blues-brothers/457044>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [July 19, 2008, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legal-question-about-the-blues-brothers/457044 "2008-07-19T15:14:06Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\
**Post date:** [July 19, 2008, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legal-question-about-the-blues-brothers/457044/1 "2008-07-19T15:14:06Z")

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Saw the Blues Brothers movie the other night…for the one million and sixth time! :rolleyes: :smack:  
My question is, wasn’t the plot flawed from the beginning? Since when do churches pay taxes?

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**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\
**Post date:** [July 19, 2008, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legal-question-about-the-blues-brothers/457044/2 "2008-07-19T16:00:18Z")

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They don’t. But at the time of the writing of the movie, [it is claimed that a law was under consideration](http://www.411mania.com/music/columns/44932) in Illinois that would tax church owned property. It was never enacted, but the debate over this proposed law may have influenced the writers.

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**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\
**Post date:** [July 20, 2008, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legal-question-about-the-blues-brothers/457044/3 "2008-07-20T13:11:51Z")

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I haven’t seen the film in ages, but wasn’t it an _orphanage_ that was being threatened with foreclosure? It was run by nuns, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that the orphanage itself was tax-exempt. IIRC churches aren’t exempt from taxation because they’re “churches.” They’re exempt because they are set up as not-for-profit organizations.

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**Author:** ![chacoguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/50afbb/32.png) [@chacoguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chacoguy)\
**Post date:** [July 20, 2008, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legal-question-about-the-blues-brothers/457044/4 "2008-07-20T14:52:08Z")

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Illinois, levied a special tax on churches in anticipation of having to pay for all those cop cars. 😃

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**Author:** ![eleanorigby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@eleanorigby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eleanorigby)\
**Post date:** [July 20, 2008, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legal-question-about-the-blues-brothers/457044/5 "2008-07-20T16:30:55Z")

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I thought that fact just added an underlayment of irony to the whole quixotic mess.  
🆒 \<— obligatory Blues Brothers shades.