Free Republic

A fight that appears periodically about election time in United States has been resurrected again this year – by a George Soros-supported leftist group that is demanding the IRS use the Johnson Amendment against churches. That statute says religious groups cannot endorse or oppose election candidates, and it's been little used because of the likelihood it violates the First Amendment. Having the amendment to use as a threat might in many cases seem to be more attractive than using it – and having a court throw it out entirely.

As the United States is engulfed in a mid-term election year, Jack Hibbs, Senior Pastor and Founder of Calvary Chapel Chino Hills, and congressional candidate for California’s 49th district, Josiah O’Neil, teamed up to urge pastors to break their silence on politics from the pulpit. In a powerful interview, Hibbs and O’Neil called on the pulpits to “wake up and get engaged” by Biblically addressing both candidates and cultural issues within their churches. “People are looking for leadership and inspiration, and frankly, it shouldn’t come from a politician; it should come from the pulpits,” O’Neil underscored. Unfortunately, self-censoring pulpits have...

President Trump spoke at Thursday’s National Prayer Breakfast in a God-and-country infused speech that would appeal especially to people who appreciate Christian nationalism — the belief that God has a uniquely Christian purpose for the United States. “We can all be heroes to everybody and they can be heroes to us,” Trump said, “as long as we open our hearts to God’s grace, America will be free, the land of the free, the home of the brave and the light to all nations.” The National Prayer Breakfast is a massive ecumenical gathering put on annually by a group of Christians...

House Republicans have finally unveiled their new tax reform bill. Despite some delays, Republican leadership insists they are still on schedule to have the bill on President Trump's desk by the end of the year. "Our goal in the House is to get this bill out of the House, passed on the floor by Thanksgiving," House Republican Conference Chair Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers told CBN News. The hold-up centered on a proposal to end the federal income deduction for state and local taxes utilized by high tax states like New York and California. GOP lawmakers in those states are hesitant...

Thursday was an amazing day in Washington, D.C. You can’t say that very often. First, it was the National Day of Prayer. It’s amazing to think about millions of Americans praying across our nation. We need it, especially in the swamp. Second, as Vice President Mike Pence explained, Congress finally passed a bill that delivered the “beginning of the end of Obamacare.” Let’s hope the Senate approves and passes it soon, and hands it over to President Trump for signing into law. Third, under the radar was another huge act of liberty: President Trump signed an executive order rolling back...

President Trump’s executive order on religious liberty has garnered a mixed reaction, with the left moaning about violations of the separation of church and state and some of the right saying it is watered down meaningless rhetoric to placate his religious base, As Ryan T. Anderson at the Daily Signal opines: In reality, what Trump issued today is rather weak. All it includes is general language about the importance of religious liberty, saying the executive branch “will honor and enforce” existing laws and instructing the Department of Justice to “issue guidance” on existing law; directives to the Department of the...

President Donald Trump today signed an executive order that would allow religious organizations to endorse political candidates and expand participation in politics. The executive order signed today also enables private employers to use religion as a pretext to deny reproductive health care to their employees. “The actions taken today are a broadside to our country’s long-standing commitment to the separation of church and state. Whether by executive order or through backroom deals, it’s clear that the Trump administration and Congressional leadership are using religion as a wedge to further divide the country and permit discrimination. We intend to file suit...

WASHINGTON — President Trump on Thursday will ease restrictions on political activity by churches and charities, White House officials said, but has backed away from a broader religious liberty order that would have allowed faith-based organizations and companies to avoid serving or hiring gay people. Conservative religious leaders who were fierce supporters of Mr. Trump’s candidacy had pushed the president to provide faith organizations with much more sweeping relief from Obama-era regulations that protect gay men, lesbians and others from discrimination. Instead, in an executive order, Mr. Trump will offer a vague promise to “protect and vigorously promote religious liberty.”...

President Donald Trump will take executive action on Thursday to ease a ban on political activity by churches and other tax-exempt institutions as part of an order on religious liberties, a senior White House official said on Wednesday. Trump's executive order to mark the National Day of Prayer will also mandate regulatory relief to religious employers that object to contraception, such as Little Sisters of the Poor, the official said in a briefing.

The executive order President Trump is expected to sign Thursday will be focused on the Johnson Amendment and allow non-profit organizations to deny certain health coverage for religious reasons, administration sources told Fox News Wednesday. Trump will instruct the Treasury Department and the IRS to not enforce the provisions of the Johnson Amendment regarding political activity in churches and non-profit organizations, according to sources. The timing and contents of the order, which would come on the National Day of Prayer, are still "very fluid" and there are still several drafts, according to a senior administration official. The Johnson Amendment, named...

Catholic Church to the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America to the Mormons, specifically bar or strongly discourage their clergy and churches from endorsing or campaigning for candidates. Any change to the Johnson Amendment wouldn’t affect those strictures. Expanding religious freedom is a defining issue for religious conservatives who propelled President Trump to the White House, and the centerpiece of Trump’s religious freedom agenda is ending the 1950s-era law that says houses of worship can lose their tax-exempt status if they engage in partisan campaigning.Indeed, Trump won’t just overturn that ban — known as the Johnson Amendment — but, as he...

At the National Prayer Breakfast last week, President Trump promised to "totally destroy" the so-called "Johnson Amendment," a law that prohibits churches from endorsing or opposing political candidates at the risk of losing their tax-exempt status. Politifact.com gives the background on how the amendment became law: "The restriction was championed by (Lyndon Johnson) in 1954 when Johnson was a U.S. senator running for re-election. A conservative nonprofit group that wanted to limit the treaty-making ability of the president produced material that called for electing his primary opponent, millionaire rancher-oilman Dudley Dougherty, and defeating Johnson. There was no church involved. "Johnson,...

While I was at the recent Napa Institute gathering, I got to know Kristina Arriaga, Executive Director of The Becket Fund, which defends religious freedom. They guided the Hobby Lobby decision to a good conclusion and for that we owe them a lot. I had this note from them today. It included this: [quote] Dear Friends, I grew up in a household where we were expected to pepper all tales with a bit of Cuban exaggeration. This was, after all, essential for good storytelling. So, in a way, I wish I were making this up. Within the IRS, there is,...

But the real solution is a new tax code While the media seemed more interested in an off-the-cuff joke he made about Arnold Schwarzenegger, there was real substance that came out of President Trump’s appearance on Thursday at the National Prayer Breakfast. Quite unlike his predecessor choosing to use this forum to tell Christians to “get off their high horses,” Trump reiterated his commitment to repealing the Johnson Amendment.

Declaring that religious freedom is “under threat,” President Donald Trump vowed Thursday to repeal a rarely enforced IRS rule that says pastors who endorse candidates from the pulpit risk losing their tax-exempt status. “I will get rid of and totally destroy the Johnson Amendment and allow our representatives of faith to speak freely and without fear of retribution,” Trump said at the National Prayer Breakfast, a high-profile event bringing together faith leaders, politicians and dignitaries. Trump’s pledge was a nod to his evangelical Christian supporters, who helped power his White House win. So far he has not detailed his plans...

President Donald Trump vowed Thursday morning at the National Prayer Breakfast to “totally destroy” a provision barring religious groups from participation in politics. “I will get rid of and totally destroy the Johnson Amendment and allow our representatives of faith to speak freely and without fear of retribution,” he said. “I will do that. Remember.”

"Our media culture often mocks and demeans people of faith,” whose “values of love, charity and faith built this nation.” Republican candidate Donald Trump pledged at the Values Voter Summit in Washington, D.C., to repeal the Johnson Amendment. “We’re gonna get rid of it,” Trump said. “I figure it’s the only way I’ll get into heaven,” he quipped. The Johnson Amendment is a circa 1954 amendment to the U.S. tax code that blocked tax-exempt organizations from endorsing or opposing political candidates. Evangelicals and other people of faith object to the law because it prevents churches—along with other tax-exempt institutions—from political...

While it’s perfectly okay for people to have different opinions about what churches should say from the pulpit, especially with regard to politics, what’s not okay is for the federal government—rather than congregations themselves—to be in charge of what is said. And it won’t do to dangle the threat of taxing the church if it won’t comply. That’s why the Johnson Amendment has to go. The Tax Code’s restriction on political speech by non-profit organizations is popularly known as the Johnson Amendment, named after its sponsor, Lyndon Johnson, who maneuvered the levers of senatorial power to insert the provision into...

RSBN video of Trump Speaking before Pastors and Pews Orlando meeting

<p>LOS ANGELES (AP) -- The Internal Revenue Service has been warning churches and nonprofit organizations that improper campaigning in the upcoming political season could endanger their tax-exempt status. In notices to more than 15,000 tax-exempt organizations, numerous church denominations and tax preparers, the agency has detailed its new enforcement program, called the Political Activity Compliance Initiative, the Los Angeles Times reported Tuesday. Under the initiative, the IRS plans to expedite investigations into claims of improper campaigning, no longer waiting for an annual tax return to be filed or the tax year to end before launching a probe. A three-member committee will make an initial review of complaints and then vote on whether to pursue the investigation in detail. "While the vast majority of charities and churches do not engage in politicking, an increasing number did take part in prohibited activities in the 2004 election cycle," IRS Commissioner Mark W. Everson said in a statement. "The rule against political campaign intervention by charities and churches is long established. We are stepping up our efforts to enforce it." Since 2004, the IRS has investigated more than 200 organizations, including All Saints Church in Pasadena. Two days before the 2004 presidential election, the Rev. George F. Regas, the church's former rector, delivered a guest sermon that pictured Jesus in a debate with George W. Bush and John Kerry. Although Regas didn't endorse a candidate, he said Jesus would have told Bush that his pre-emptive war policy "has led to disaster." The church drew national attention when the Rev. Ed Bacon, rector of All Saints, disclosed the IRS investigation and later said the agency believed the church had violated federal tax code barring tax-exempt organizations from intervening in political campaigns and elections. Church leaders have not heard from the IRS since October, when the agency said the investigation was being taken to a higher level, according to Regas. The IRS has not confirmed whether the investigation is still ongoing. Of the 62 organizations determined by the IRS to be in violation, three lost their nonprofit status and 59 received warning letters. The three who lost their status were not churches, and some of those warned were ordered to pay an excise tax. Federal law prohibits the IRS from releasing the names of those under investigation, but the agency said it has more than 100 cases pending and 40 of them are churches. This month, OMB Watch, a Washington-based nonprofit government watchdog group, issued a report criticizing the IRS enforcement program and said the program could prompt retaliatory and harassment complaints unless the agency develops clear guidelines. "I don't think this is a case of bad faith," said Kay Guinane, author of the report. "I just think it's a poorly structured program."</p>