Posted on 10/18/2014 8:28:58 AM PDT by Patton@Bastogne
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Ted Cruz Tells Brody File: "Real Risk" Of Pastors Being Jailed For Preaching Against Homosexuality
In an exclusive interview with The Brody File, Senator Ted Cruz says pastors being hauled off to jail by the government for preaching against homosexuality is a “real risk” in the future.
““I think that is a real risk,” Cruz tells me. “Some in the media ridicule that threat saying there is no danger of the government coming after pastors. That is the usual response.”
But he adds: “The specter of government trying to determine if what pastors preach from the pulpit meets with the policy views or political correctness of the governing authorities, that prospect is real and happening now.”
Watch the clip below along with a partial transcription.
The Brody File traveled to Houston Texas Thursday to interview Cruz after his press conference in defense of Houston pastors. They are under a severe religious liberty attack by city officials.
The Mayor and the City Council are trying to subpoena the sermons of these pastors because of their supposed outspokenness on homosexuality and a controversial LGBT ordinance.
The pastors are refusing to give in.
More Brody File analysis on Ted Cruz and evangelicals here.
MANDATORY COURTESY: CBN NEWS/THE BRODY FILE
David Brody: “One of the next battles in this culture war could indeed be right there in the pulpit. Are we going through a potential period or could we very well soon go through a period where pastors are hauled off to jail for a hate crime because they are speaking for traditional marriage?”
Senator Ted Cruz: “I think that is a real risk and you and I have both pointed to that risk in the past and some in the media ridicule that threat saying there is no danger of the government coming after pastors. That is the usual response.”
Senator Ted Cruz: “The specter of government trying to determine if what pastors preach from the pulpit meets with the policy views or political correctness of the governing authorities, that prospect is real and happening now.”
Senator Ted Cruz: “When you subpoena one pastor, you subpoena every pastor. If government has the power to force the pulpit to knuckle under, if government has the power to insist that pastors hand over their sermons for government approval then we’ve lost the very first freedom that begins our bill of rights. We’ve lost the freedom that this country was built on. That’s what this fight is and I very much hope that this serves as a wake-up call to Christians, to people of faith, I hope it serves as a wake-up call to pastors to speak out and make abundantly clear that we will not give up our religious liberty. We will not go quietly into the night but we will stand and fight for principles that are right and true and will speak the truth and the pastors of this country will not be muzzled.
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The “love of money” argument has nothing to do with it. It is a Red Herring to blind us from seeing the real fight. This is about a fundamental freedom being violated using the unconstitutional misapplication of the IRS 501-C3 rules. The Supreme Court has spoken about the 501-C3 and we know how the unconstitutional Obama Regime went around that ruling when they used the IRS to shut down the political voice of conservative organizations just before the 2012 elections. Now they are trying to go around the Constitution using the 501-C3 against churches. If we can’t see that, we are blind.
Any church members across this country that do not stand with these Texas clergy/churches need to be sold to arab slavers!
Wow. I am very surprised by you. You have absolutely and completely failed to recognize that what we have been saying is that the power to tax is the power to control.
I am curious, “ I welcome being called an “ass” in this fight.” Who are you fighting?
The clock is ticking.... And the buzzer will be going off soon. Hurry hurry.
I’m a pastor and I don’t even think about someone’s tax deduction. In fact, I don’t think about deductions of any kind at all, because unless they total to a goodly amount, everyone falls under the standard deduction anyway.
All of this is moot, however, because the 1st amendment clearly disentangles governments from church business.
However, as with marriage, there are activities of the church that naturally overlap activities of the government. That doesn’t mean that government determines if 2 people married by a church are married. Nor does it mean that a worship building built by a church is subject to the government.
The bravest conservative out there.
Cruz 2016. You know it.
I agree with you.
But I don’t want to give them a legal handle. Remove the 501c3 then what do they have? I believe this makes it easier to see exactly what you are proclaiming and exactly what I agree with.
I believe that having the 501c3 allows them to cloud the issue.
I want to make it real clear to everyone that what you are proclaiming, and what I agree with, is the deeper issue at hand.
I'm not really disagreeing with your point. I'm just making the further point that, totalitarians being who and what they are, there will always be another handle. The problem isn't the handle, its the Godless totalitarian.
They are not just using IRS rules, they are using zoning rules, they are going after custody of peoples' children. Whatever it takes. So, while I understand that you may consider it good to remove a handle, just know they're coming anyway.
The case is not “closed.” The scripture says, “Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar’s; and unto God the things that are God’s”. The founders of our nation closed the book on what things are Caesar’s, and it included the power not to tax churches for their profession of faith. They knew that the power to tax is the power to control. We know how the power to tax can give one citizen special tax exemptions for their behavior. When that power is being used to control tax exemptions for their First Amendment right to speak, that crosses over the line. The use of the IRS to control the freedom of speech of the citizen is an unconstitutional application of power and we damn well be fighting that use of power. We are not fighting that fight if we give up freedom—the freedom from taxation by the churches.
Why give up something that is an inherent right of religious expression?
Why not work to eliminate the political speech exemption from the 501(c)(3) statute?
IMHO the limitation is a violation of the first amendment free exercise clause. Religion and politics are more often than not intertwined. These secularists are as religious about their atheism and hatred of Christ as Christians are about their beliefs. We need to stand up for our rights, not surrender them!
The use of the Hillsdale College argument is a straw dog argument. Nice try.
“Hillsdale’s educational mission rests upon two principles: academic excellence and institutional independence. The College does not accept federal or state taxpayer subsidies for any of its operations.”
http://www.hillsdale.edu/about
If you agree to be taxed, then you open the door to even more harassment as they demand ever more documentation, and mistakes or lack of documentation on your part become federal tax fraud.
Well said. At least you are getting the picture. The totalitarians are going after the church and we had better be fighting it as hard has our forefathers fought to fight the totalitarians in their day.
“Following almost a decade of litigation, the U.S. Supreme Court decided against Hillsdale in 1984. By this time, the College had announced that rather than complying with unconstitutional federal regulation, it would instruct its students that they could no longer bring federal taxpayer money to Hillsdale. Instead, the College would replace that aid with private contributions.”
http://www.hillsdale.edu/about/history
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