When the elders of Christ Church made the decision to appeal the tax decision that went against us last week, we also decided that (assuming a victory on appeal) we would pursue donating a comparable amount of money for city services, etc. What’s up with that?
There are a number of minor issues that relate to this, but our decision highlights two important things about the controversy. The first is that, for us, it is not about the money. We really are concerned about the principle of the thing. The way to prove that is to appeal on principle, and donate the money afterwards. Reasonable people, whose concern really was about the tax base, should be delighted with such a move. Which brings us to the second thing this move reveals, something which is actually far more important. For our adversaries, our decision reveals that for them it is not about the money either, but rather about finding a new venue in which to perpetuate their hissy fit. Unfortunately for us, there are, according to my calculations, three counties in which such hissy fits are considered adjudicable — here, and two more in eastern Tennessee.