That's if the scheme announced recently by officials in Mission, Kan., survives a court challenge that has been filed by the Alliance Defense Fund.

"No one should be taxing church attendance, but that's what this tax does: It punishes churches based on their attendance," said Erik Stanley, a senior legal counsel for the organization.

"Cleverly disguising a tax as a fee is just another way to penalize churches and other nonprofit organizations and charities by subverting their tax exemptions so the government can collect more money," he said. "This driveway tax is simply outrageous. Will we soon be seeing a 'sidewalk tax' based on the number of people who walk to church?" ...