Posted on 07/27/2006 8:20:43 AM PDT by xzins
Five years ago, I wrote about threats made by the Internal Revenue Service against conservative churches for supposedly engaging in politicking. Today, the IRS is again attempting to chill free speech, sending notices to more than 15,000 non-profit organizations—including churches—regarding its new crackdown on political activity.
But what exactly constitutes political activity? What if a member of the clergy urges his congregation to work toward creating a pro-life culture, when an upcoming election features a pro-life candidate? What if a minister admonishes churchgoers that homosexuality is sinful, when an initiative banning gay marriage is on an upcoming ballot? Where exactly do we draw the line, and when does the IRS begin to violate the First amendment’s guarantee of free exercise of religion?
I agree with my colleague Walter Jones of North Carolina that the political views of any particular church or its members are none of the government’s business. Congressman Jones introduced legislation that addresses this very serious issue of IRS harassment of churches engaging in conservative political activity. This bill is badly needed to end the IRS practice of threatening certain politically disfavored faiths with loss of their tax-exempt status, while ignoring the very open and public political activities of other churches. While some well-known leftist preachers routinely advocate socialism from the pulpit, many conservative Christian and Jewish congregations cannot present their political beliefs without risking scrutiny from the tax collector.
The supposed motivation behind the ban on political participation by churches is the need to maintain a rigid separation between church and state. However, the First amendment simply prohibits the federal government from passing laws that establish religion or prohibit the free exercise of religion. There certainly is no mention of any "separation of church and state," yet lawmakers and judges continually assert this mythical doctrine.
The result is court rulings and laws that separate citizens from their religious beliefs in all public settings, in clear violation of the free exercise clause. Our Founders never envisioned a rigidly secular public society, where people must nonsensically disregard their deeply held beliefs in all matters of government and politics. They certainly never imagined that the federal government would actively work to chill the political activities of some churches.
Speech is speech, regardless of the setting. There is no legal distinction between religious expression and political expression; both are equally protected by the First amendment. Religious believers do not drop their political opinions at the door of their place of worship, nor do they disregard their faith at the ballot box. Religious morality will always inform the voting choices of Americans of all faiths.
The political left, however, seeks to impose the viewpoint that public life must be secular, and that government cannot reflect morality derived from faith. Many Democrats, not all, are threatened by strong religious institutions because they want an ever-growing federal government to serve as the unchallenged authority in our society. So the real motivation behind the insistence on a separation of church and state is not based on respect for the First amendment, but rather on a desire to diminish the influence of religious conservatives at the ballot box.
The Constitution's guarantee of religious freedom must not depend on the whims of IRS bureaucrats. Religious institutions cannot freely preach their beliefs if they must fear that the government will accuse them of "politics." We cannot allow churches to be silenced any more than we can allow political dissent in general to be silenced. Free societies always have strong, independent institutions that are not afraid to challenge and criticize the government.
Any government that opposes religious speech to the extent of outlawing the clerics' non-violent political speech does so because they fear religion and view it as competition. And what you end up with, basically, is Communism. Communism too allows Churches to stand and people to attend, but only in a government controlled system, and at a great risk of the loss of freedom to all who oppose their corrupt system of government. America is absolutly drifting in that direction, but I believe our Constitution will prevent it from happening to the extent our government would like to have it.
In any case, regardless of whether or not the government will yank the tax-free status of any Church that opposes its evil, corrupt "laws" like abortion and homosexual 'marriage', or prosecutes the clerics, the Church will never be under the foot of government for long, because its authority and power comes from God. As our Lord and Master proved 2,000 years ago, even when you kill the Church and put it in its grave, it rises again.
Seems resonable to me. Church wants its rights under the constitution, give up the right not to be taxed and they've got 'em!
"The heart of the issue is that the government shouldn't be in the business of taking anything that belongs to God."
Remove their tax exemption and they can say what they want.
Until then no fair!
There is no clause of the Constitution mandating a freedom of government from religion. Quite the contrary!!!
"The ONLY foundation for...a republic is to be laid in Religion. Without this there can be NO virtue,and without virtue there can be no liberty,and liberty is the OBJECT and life of all republican governments."
---Benjamin Rush...Founding Father
If anyone would like to be added to this ping list let me know.
John Linder in the House(HR25) & Saxby Chambliss Senate(S25) offer a comprehensive bill to kill all federal income, SS/Medicare payroll, and gift/estate taxes outright replacing them with with a national retail sales tax administered by the states.
H.R.25,S.25
A bill to promote freedom, fairness, and economic opportunity by repealing the income tax and other taxes, abolishing the Internal Revenue Service, and enacting a national retail sales tax to be administered primarily by the States.Refer for additional information:
Why do they need tax exemption in the first place?
Do away with the IRS and do away with most of the domestic terrorism in the US. The IRS is a much bigger threat to the common American than any rag head terrorist. Make them cease to exist. Put their liberal employees out on the street to make an honest living like everyone else.
Support the Fair Tax.
Let me guess, you work at the IRS, right?
Where do you think churches get their money, and to whom does the individual attender give it, and for what purpose?
A church is individuals....that's what the word means.
My $100 bucks to God is in worship of God. If you take even a dime of it, you have told me I'm not allowed to worship God as much as I wanted to.
The most invasive, unconstitutional agency ever created, threaten our liberties?! Who'd a thunk it?
"Five years ago, I wrote about threats made by the Internal Revenue Service against conservative churches for supposedly engaging in politicking. Today, the IRS is again attempting to chill free speech, sending notices to more than 15,000 non-profit organizations—including churches—regarding its new crackdown on political activity. "
I don't think clergymen should be preaching politics from the pulpit.
For every conservative clergyman out there ignored by the popular media, there is a pack of Methodist, Prebyterian and Episcopalian anti-war, anti-gun, pro-illegal alien, pro-sodomite "Christian" revisionists sqealing like so many swine from the pulpits and given mass coverage by the media.
Tax 'em if they politicize - but tax 'em equally.
The conservatives will come out ahead.
Back when people still had brains, they gave the Churches tax-free status to help them go about their business of feeding and housing the poor so that government wouldn't have to burdon the taxpayers with this massive expense. Government also recognized that religion was necessary to the morality, honesty and decency of its people, and was a strong ally of government's own laws. But that was back before the government and the Courts began instituting evil "laws" like abortion on demand, homosexual marriage, pornographer's "rights" and thought crimes, ('hate' crimes). It was back when government respected peoples' rights and didn't see itself as a seperate entity from the people; and back when brains and reason still reigned over idiocy and insanity.
Uh, no. But nice try. Tax-exempt status is granted for charitable works.
You are absolutely correct. There would not be this power grab by the government over religion if there were no income tax.
A true lack of freedom would be if churches were forced to be non-profits & therefore abide by these IRS regs. They are not forced. When they accept non-profit status, they accept the limitations.
The Govt has given them an out. Whether a church chooses to exercise that option is completely up to the church.
No...what???
Either 100 bucks goes for God's work or it doesn't?
If the government takes even one red cent, then they are interfering in my gift to God. Period.
Perfect. Then abolish the tax-exempt status of that [and other] church[es] and charitable tax exemption for its members and other individuals -
Bull!!! Abolish all attempts to regulate the free speech of any tax-exempt organization.
Congress has no power whatsoever to make any law in this area abridging free speech, whether such be religous or political!!!
Tax law is no exception to the prohibitions on government in the 1st Amendment.
Constitution Amendment I
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
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