That’s your position, but what if someone else feels differently? Should your personal opinion hold sway over someone else’s religious freedom?
That’s the law. Ironically I was sitting with several IRS agents when I typed that. I’m a CPA and I deal with a lot of churches and non-profits.
The question at hand isn’t “is that the law?”
The question being discussed is “is that law constitutional?”
Ask your IRS friends about “Pulpit Freedom Sunday.” Churches for several years have been blatantly breaking the IRS rule (over 1,500 participated this year). They’ve been reporting themselves to the IRS; sending tapes to the IRS; literally daring (begging) the IRS to take action. Ask your IRS friends why they haven’t acted against any of these churches—not one?
The reason is simple: these churches are prepared (as a group) to challenge the Johnson amendment in court, and fight all the way to the supreme court if they have to. The IRS knows if that happens the Johnson amendment would get thrown out (at least as it applies to churches).
The Johnson amendment may be the law, but it’s an unconstitutional law. Eventually (if the IRS takes action against a church that has the resources to fight) it will get overturned.