President Donald Trump’s long-standing pledge to abolish the so-called Johnson amendment appears to have finally come to fruition, a law that bars churches and nonprofits from supporting political candidates.
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) said in a recent court filing church that the church has been allowed to support candidates from the pulpit and that such actions do not endanger the status of the 501(c)(3) nonprofit.
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According to CNBC, Johnson’s amendment is a long-standing understanding of the so-called US tax code is a nonprofit organization, and the church could not support or oppose the candidate. But this new guidance will likely change that dynamic.
“In relation to religious service in relation to religious services through the usual communication channels on matters of faith, communication to that congregation does not violate the properly interpreted Johnson amendment,” the IRS declared in a joint court filed with the National Religious Broadcasting Bureau (NRB), a coalition of Christian media organizations.
The document continued, “when honest worshippers speak to their congregations rather than “intervention” in “political campaigns” through customary communications about electoral politics seen through the lens of religious faith through the conventional communication channels of faith concerning religious service.”
These declarations were made in documents presented in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Texas as part of a settlement between the IRS and the two churches and the NRB.The RCES, which advocates for Johnson’s amendment, is a barrier to First Amendment freedom.
The settlement has reportedly not been approved yet.
As CBN News previously reported, Johnson’s amendment was adopted by Congress in 1954. Some people named the measure after then-Texas Democratic Sen. Lyndon Johnson, and it was actually intended to silence his political critics.
But others say the measure will properly stop nonprofits and churches from trying to shake people up in elections.
Johnson’s amendment argues that it limits freedom of speech not new. In fact, the Republican 2016 platform addressed the issue and called for it to be removed.
“We support the abolition of the Johnson Amendment, which limits the freedom of the First Amendment of all nonprofit organizations by banning political speeches.”
Despite the recent IRS court filings, at the time of publication of this article, the following guidance was posted on the IRS website surrounding church and political activity:
In 1954, Congress approved the then-sen amendment. Lyndon Johnson bans 501(c)(3) organizations, including charities and churches, and prohibits them from engaging in political campaigning activities. As long as Congress has reconsidered the ban over the years, it actually strengthened it. The latest changes came in 1987 when Congress revised its language to clarify the ban.
Currently, the law prohibits political campaigning activities by charities or churches by defining a 501(c)(3) organization as one that participates in or intervene in or intervene in (or intervene in) any political campaign on behalf of a civil servant (or includes the publication or distribution of statements) in or intervene in any political campaign against a civil servant.”
The history surrounding the origins of the Johnson revision is fascinating.
One of the major criticisms of the measure is that Johnson is said to have focused on the silencing of secular organisations that opposed his Senate run.
James D. Davidson, a former professor of sociology at Purdue University, writes that Johnson faced accusations of being soft on communism, leading to a pushback against him as a candidate.
“Johnson was not trying to address constitutional issues related to the separation of the church and the state, and he did not offer to amend the matter because of what the church did,” Davidson wrote. “The church was banned because it has the same tax-free status as the Facts Forum and the Constitutional Government Commission, the right-wing organization that Johnson really wanted.”
The church itself is engaged in an attempt to test Johnson’s revision, and events like “Freedom Sunday of the Pulau” encourage preachers to share the politics and candidates of the sermon.
However, the IRS rarely forces Johnson’s amendments or virtually do these places of worship. The only known example of a church that lost its tax-free status under the Johnson Amendment was the branch ministries in New York. In the end, the IRS also won in court.
“Christians should be careful,” read the ad. “Don’t put the economy in front of the Ten Commandments.”
Ultimately, Johnson’s revision has a following in the religious community as well. In 2017, a coalition of 99 religious groups wrote to Congress, urging politicians to oppose Trump’s repeated pledge to overturn the law. Most of the signatories are liberal, the Christian Post reported at the time.
“We, 99 signed religious and sectarian organisations, are strongly opposed to efforts by 501(c)(3) organisations, including places of worship, to undermine or eliminate protections banning political candidates that they support or oppose,” the letter opened. “Current laws serve as a valuable safeguard for the integrity of the philanthropy sector and the campaign finance system.”
The letter explained that religious leaders are free to support candidates unless they do so through places of worship, and asserted that pastors and other religious leaders could also address “the moral and political issues of the day” from their pulpit. That said, the IRS Act prohibits churches from supporting or opposing candidates because it is a tax-exempt organization.
“Current laws simply limit the group to be both the duty-free ministry and partisan political entities,” the letter confirmed.
The signator went on to oppose efforts to undermine the Johnson amendment, explaining that the public did not want the church to become a place where partisan political battles govern. And based on the vote, the letter may be correct.
A 2017 Lifeway Research poll found 79% of Americans opposed preachers who support pulpit candidates. That said, over half of respondents (52%) opposed to stripping churches of tax-free status if they chose to approve.
While it appears to allow more open political debate on the latest IRS move, Politico reported that “it doesn’t seem to make clear how religious groups spend their money on broader political activities, such as advertising campaigns.”
NPR added that the IRS sees approval of candidates for religious organizations as similar to “family discussions,” especially when communicated to members and parishioners.
It’s only time to know what this actually looks like. CBN News continues to cover the unfolding stories.
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