houston lgbt mayor has every legal right to prosecute christian churches for political activity

Patton@Bastogne | 2014-10-15 | Patton@Bastogne

[Patton@Bastogne]

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2014-10-15


Houston LGBT Mayor has EVERY LEGAL RIGHT to Prosecute Christian Churches for Political Activity


First, I (Patton@Bastogne) am a pro-life anti-gay-marriage evangelical Christian.


Second, (in today's news story reported by The Houston Chronicle, below) ...

I am calling out the Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) and their attorney Christina Holcomb ...

as "Despicable Liars".



ADF attorneys KNOW FULL WELL that Churches' "voluntary" acceptance of the IRS 501-C3 "federal contract" means that Christian Churches SURRENDER their rights to ...

First Admendment "Free Speech" ... when practiced behind a "tax-exempt church pulpit".

Period.


I openly challenge the deceptive ADF organization (and you, gentle reader) to DOWNLOAD IRS Pamplet-1828 ...

and send this legal copy of the "Federal Contractor Guidelines" to EVERY Christian Church in Houston, Texas.

I maintain that the ADF's goal is "financial gain" ... as they "lie through their teeth" to otherwise well-meaning Christians about church political activity.



The Houston Chronicle

The city of Houston has issued subpoenas demanding a group of pastors turn over any sermons dealing with homosexuality, gender identity or Annise Parker, the city’s first openly lesbian mayor. And those ministers who fail to comply could be held in contempt of court.

“The city’s subpoena of sermons and other pastoral communications is both needless and unprecedented,” Alliance Defending Freedom attorney Christina Holcomb said in a statement.

“The city council and its attorneys are engaging in an inquisition designed to stifle any critique of its actions.”

ADF, a nationally-known law firm specializing in religious liberty cases, is representing five Houston pastors.

They filed a motion in Harris County court to stop the subpoenas arguing they are “overbroad, unduly burdensome, harassing, and vexatious.”

“Political and social commentary is not a crime,” Holcomb said. “It is protected by the First Amendment.”

The subpoenas are just the latest twist in an ongoing saga over the Houston’s new non-discrimination ordinance.

The law, among other things, would allow men to use the ladies room and vice versa. The city council approved the law in June.


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The Time has Come ... American Christian Churches ... to JETTISION theEVIL of church "tax-exempt status" ...

Don't blame me ... I'm just the messenger.

Questions ?



Muster up the courage to do the free IRS download of "Pamplet P1828" which specifies the legal details of your tax-exempt church's sertitude to it's U.S. Government Masters.

Heck, I'll even do you the favor of providing the internet link:

IRS Legal Obligations of Tax-Exempt Christian Churches and Pastors" - (click)









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IRS & Church Marriage vs. "Render Unto Caesar" ...

IRS & Church Marriage vs. "Render Unto Caesar" - (click)



America's Spiritual Revival and Healing - The Obstacle ...

.America's Spiritual Revival and Healing - The Obstacle ... - (click)




Pro-Life Victory vs. "Render Unto Caesar" ...

Pro-Life Victory vs. "Render Unto Caesar" - (click)




Tea Party Christians and "Render Unto Caesar" ...

Tea Party Christians and "Render Unto Caesar" - (click)

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[antidisestablishment]

Patton@Bastogne is correct. Incorporating as a 501-C3 does not grant tax-exempt status to churches. Churches are automatically tax exempt as soon as they are formed—there are not any requirements as to ownership, structure or anything else.

What 501-C3 status does grant, like any other corporate body, is limitation of liability for church leaders. Churches without 501-C3 status can give legal tax receipts and perform legal marriages, but church leaders are personally liable for all church affairs. Under 501-C3, church leaders voluntarily place the church under government regulation in trade for limited liability.

Once a church is incorporated, they are subject to whatever the Feds decide. Without incorporation, the feds have no oversight, and would be in precarious legal territory with any challenge. Of course, personal lawsuits could be used to intimidate churches, but such suits would be played on a more even field.

[Patton@Bastogne]

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I maintain that the Alliance for Defending (Church) Freedom (ADF) is simply offering their "bogus" IRS 501-C3 arguments to "raise money" ...

taking advantage of well-meaning Christians' (unfortunate) "total ignorance" of the IRS 501-C3 ...

VOLUNTARY "Federal Contract".

Period.



On the other hand, read the image below (seen in every YouTube video I produced).

I DO NOT accept donations, DO NOT sell books or seminars, DO NOT give seminars.

Period.

So ... who ya gonna believe ?


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[Servant of the Cross]

She just enforces the hell out of it.

Au contraire. In response to the civil disobedience of 1,600 pastors in 2012, the IRS has not touched any of the challenges. Not. One. Single. One.

[smokingfrog]

Exactly right. If the government were allowed to tax churches, it could arbitrarily just tax the churches it doesn’t like out of existence. Tax exempt organizations have always been able to advocate based on public issues. Endorsing certain political candidates or raising money for them during church activities would be a different issue altogether.

[Patton@Bastogne]

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Lois Lehner is a "political animal" just as Obama is.

She waits till the time is right.

2012 was a presidential election year.

Obama and Lehner didn't want to "wake the sleeping Christian giant" ... THEN ...


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[bert]

Hey bitch...... if there is no law, there is no law

[AppyPappy]

We would have to close every Black church.

[Bubba_Leroy]

If you think that only weak churches would close if subjected to to full taxation powers of the federal government you are deluding yourself. It is axiomatic that the power to tax is the power to destroy.

Only conservative churches are targeted. No liberal church will ever be subpoenaed or taxed for advocating homosexual marriage, abortion, socialism or black racism.

[VTenigma]

When all this liberal nonsense comes crashing down and backfires on these idiots it’s going to be epic.

[Patton@Bastogne]

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Yep ... starting with Obama's "beloved" Rev. Jeremiah Wright ...


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[Servant of the Cross]

Lois Lerner is a cowardly weasel. She ran away from a reporter who dared to ask her some questions and tried to break into an elderly neighbor's house to avoid the confrontation.

A free people should not accept the UnConstitutional 'ruling' of partisan political government hacks in the IRS. These courageous pastors want their day in court on this issue. In this post-Lerner climate, the IRS will lose every day of the week.

In the immortal words of John F'ing Kerry, BRING IT ON!

[TexasCajun]

You are a victim of an assumption you’ve bought into. Suddenly, you are a Christian “compliance” officer - instead of the real point - which is that having this tax status should not quell a group’s free speech. You’ve also swallowed the assumption that preaching on homosexuality is political speech.

There are cases to be made for churches to opt out of 501 3C designations, but not this one.

Exactly!

...do you have a video? ...website? /s

[ontap]

When Planned Parenthood gives up its tax exempt status then the churches will give up theirs. This Mayor is an idiot. If this is ever challenged the IRS will lose. There is no basis in the constitution for forfeiting a right granted in the Bill of Rights!!! Having said that I wish the all tax exempt statuses were eliminated by eliminating the IRS and go with a federal sales tax or something similar!!!

[Bubba_Leroy]

Legitimate churches should be entirely exempt from all government taxation and control regardless of whether they comply with 501c3 requirements for other tax exempt nonprofit organizations.

If your organization is not a church and you wish to be exempt from taxes then you have to comply with the applicable exemption requirements. If your organization is a church then you should be exempt from taxes regardless of what you church preaches.

[Arlis]

You missed my point completely.

1. Churches dependent on God do not need tax-exempt status. It is a relatively new (50 years?) law that did not exist long ago.

2. By claiming that status, churches are only giving the gov. a basis for intruding. Don’t claim the status, you can say whatever you want - until things get like Nazi Germany....which may be not far away.

3. Real givers don’t concern themselves with getting a tax deduction. Few have income levels and giving levels where their tax-exempt giving actually benefits them. And if that is the basis for their giving, I question their motives. Christians I know give where they are led to give regardless of any tax benefit. Often the greatest need is where there is no tax benefit.

4. Claiming tax-exempt status is a form of the church depending on the world instead of on God.

[Verginius Rufus]

LBJ is said to be responsible for the rule that churches will lose their tax-exempt status if they engage in political activity, but it doesn't date to when he was President. Rather, it dates back to 1954 when he was running for re-election to the US Senate and didn't want churches to be able to aid his opponent.

As John Marshall said, "the power to tax is the power to destroy."

[woweeitsme]

Good point. I guess I wasn’t looking at it in that light.

God is good and he will make all things right in the end.

[OKSooner]

Nothing personal, but run "admendment" thru your spell checker and then get back to us about how carefully it was written.

Just sayin'. :)

[Bubba_Leroy]

You missed my point entirely. All churches should be tax exempt under the First Amendment regardless of how or what they preach.

Tax exemption is not just a matter of whether donors can deduct their contributions. It is also a matter of property tax exemption, sales tax exemption, income tax exemption and exemption from any other punitive tax that Obama or a future regime may want to impose on churches in the future.

The power to tax is not only the power to destroy. According to the Supreme Court’s Obamacare ruling, the power to tax is the power to do anything.

[circlecity]

"What 501-C3 status does grant, like any other corporate body, is limitation of liability for church leaders. Churches without 501-C3 status can give legal tax receipts and perform legal marriages, but church leaders are personally liable for all church affairs."

The corporate shield from personal liability has been a fundamental and the primary benefit of incorporation since the English common law. It predates regulation 501C-3 by three huhdred years. All corporate officers and directors are shielded from personal liability unless one can make incredibly difficult showing necessary to "pierce the corporate veil." (There are some specialty corporations such a Professional Corporations where this shield is less protective but they are the vast minority.) There are no Court cases in the country which hold that the government can condition the traditional legal corporate protections against personal liability on a waiver of 1st Amendment rights. I have never even heard the IRS make such a claim, they always try to condition the tax exempt status but have never been willing to fight the issue in court.