Replies

On 1 July 1937 Martin Niemoller, Confessional leader, was arrested and put in prison. On 7 February 1938 he was tried before a Special Court in Berlin. On 2 March he was sentenced to seven months imprisonment in a fortress (i.e., honorable imprisonment) for violation of the Pulpit Law. He was also fined 500 Marks for a violation of the rules of the Emergency Decree of 28 February 1933 (originally directed against the Communists) and 1500 Marks for another violation of both laws. He was acquitted of the charge of "underhand attacks on State and Party". As he had been eight months in prison he was allowed to go free. On leaving the court he was arrested by the Gestapo and sent to a concentration camp where he remained until the end of the war.

Any priest was free to defy the Pulpit Law and speak out against the racism and paganism of the Third Reich, but except for the redoubtable Bishop Von Galen of Muenster it would be his final public word. German priests and pastors were exiled to Dachau for preaching love of neighbor, for insisting that Jesus was a Jew, for warning S.S. men that they could not abjure their faith to achieve promotion, for offering requiem Masses even for relatives of Communists. -- The Priests of Dachau

As far back as the Revolutionary War, America's religious leaders have taken to their pulpits to galvanize their followers on the political issues of the day, from taxation to slavery to abortion. But since 1954, when Senator Lyndon B. Johnson pushed a little-noticed law through Congress, ministers have been barred from preaching about political candidates. Under the law, churches are prohibited from endorsing or opposing candidates or risk being stripped of their tax-exempt status by the Internal Revenue Service. Nevertheless, the law is frequently flouted, and the I.R.S. rarely intervenes.

"Houses of Worship Political Speech Protection Act," H.R. 2357 sponsored by Congressman Walter Jones, R-NC Christian Coalition of America lobbyists have been helping Congressman Walter Jones get a vote on the House floor for his "Houses of Worship Political Speech Protection Act." It was voted on in early October with 178 Members of the House voting for it. -- Christian Coalition of America

(AgapePress) - An official with the American Family Association says he is surprised and disappointed with the defeat in the House of Representatives of a bill that would have allowed churches and other religious organizations to address political issues and endorse candidates from the pulpit.

Yesterday on Capitol Hill, the Houses of Worship Political Speech Protection Act (H.R. 2357) was rejected on a 239-178 vote. Forty-five Republicans joined forces with more than 190 Democrats to defeat the effort that would have lifted the Internal Revenue Service's effective ban on political activity at churches, synagogues, and mosques across the country. Under the bill, the tax-exempt status of those groups would have been protected if a clergy member expressed his or her political preference from the pulpit. -- American Family Association

“There should be no government censorship of religious freedom,” said Larry Cirignano, Catholic Citizenship Executive Director. “IRS bureaucrats can arbitrarily decide to censor religious speech and that runs contrary to the First Amendment.” -- Catholic Citizenship

Because he wanted to minimize opposition to his running for the US Senate, Lyndon Johnson, aided by a morally corrupt Congress ( to this day), placed these united States of America on the same level with:

Hitler's Germany,
Stalin's Soviet Union, and
China's present communist government.

In the land of the free and home of the brave, where citizen rights come not from government, but from God Almighty, the United States government dictates the content of homilies, in its censorship of what is, and what is not permissible.

Where's the United States Conference of Bishops when Roman Catholics and the religious of America need them??? What would Jesus say of them???

Our Lady of La Salette, pray for us.
Saint Pius X, pray for us.
Saint Padre Pio pray for us.