Why Christians Must Fight for Freedom

It is time for Christians to step up in the name of freedom on behalf of atheists and people of faith alike. It is time for us to throw off the restraints legislated by control freaks pulling the levers of power to engineer society in their image.

The federal government has regulated free speech in churches since 1954. That’s right. Thanks to legislation made law in 1954 by then-Senator Lyndon Johnson (D-TX), non-profit organizations (by definition tax exempt) including churches, are prohibited from “participat&nvsp;[ing] in, or intervening in any political campaign on behalf of any candidate for public office.” (The History of Church Electioneering)

Non-profits can participate in activism on issues and advocate or oppose legislation. Consequently organizations such as Planned Parenthood, People for the American Way, and MoveOn.org have large budgets devoted to legislative activism, and many religious groups have formed political action committees of their own.

The first time federal legislation allowed non-profits tax exempt status was 1913. The original law did not carry prohibitions concerning speech, political activity or endorsement of candidates.

So, for 41 years, there was freedom.

Before we proceed further to examine why the law was changed in 1954, let’s keep in mind what the Constitution states in the 1st Amendment:

“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.”

The law Johnson got through in 1954 amended the tax code to prohibit all non-profits from partisan political activity concerning candidates, organizations labeled 501(c)(3)s.

Apparently, at the time, the motivation to pass such prohibitions stemmed from the government’s fear communists were infiltrating non-profit groups to fund subversive activities.

However, Johnson was concerned about political opposition from non-profits (including churches according to some accounts), opposition to his personal political ambitions and his prospects for re-election to the Senate, and so, he sought to stifle such opposition by amending the tax code to silence opponents. He was successful. (LBJ, not Jefferson, banned church politicking, prof says and Don’t Stifle The Free Speech of Houses of Worship)

Therefore, in 1954 we allowed the government to make law prohibiting the free exercise of religion, we allowed the government to abridge free speech, both violations of the 1st Amendment, and thus far, we have failed to petition the government for a redress of this grievance.

Rep. Walter Jones (R-NC) did try to roll this injustice back with the introduction of HR 235 in the 108th Congress. It was called the Houses of Worship Free Speech Restoration Act.

People for the American Way (PFAW) and others on the Left — simultaneously endorsing freedom for some, and crushing it for others — fought HR 235, eventually defeating it, for the time being. PFAW and others foist the bogus argument such legislative proposals violate separation of church and state. (Houses Of Worship Free Speech Restoration Act — What’s at Stake?)

So, the law stands, and it prohibits charities and houses of worship from endorsing or opposing candidates “either expressly or by implication”: sufficiently vague to threaten everyone.

If the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. were alive today, he could not endorse a candidate from the pulpit, and he would be prohibited from speaking in support of any political figure concerning any moral issue, some say, even privately.

The law however does not discourage the Rev. Jeremiah Wright from essentially endorsing Barack Obama and condemning Hillary Clinton from the pulpit, nor does it prevent Harlem cleric the Rev. Calvin Butts from endorsing Hillary Clinton for president. (Prominent minister endorses Clinton in Harlem)

Note the Rev. Wrights’ remarks documented by NewsMax:

“Barack knows what it means living in a country and a culture that is controlled by rich white people,” Wright said. “Hillary would never know that. Hillary ain’t never been called a nigger. Hillary has never had a people defined as a non-person. Hillary is married to Bill, and Bill has been good to us. No he ain’t! Bill did us, just like he did Monica Lewinsky. He was riding dirty.”

(See also Obama’s Spiritual Mentor May Put Church in Hot Water.)

Apparently equal enforcement of the law stops on Sunday morning during the most segregated time in American life.

However, the word is the IRS is investigating Rev. Wright’s Trinity United Church of Christ, and the church and the IRS have squared off before.

Rewind to the Clinton campaign of 1992.

In November of that year, the Church at Pierce Creek, Binghamton, New York, took out a full-page ad in USA Today, encouraging believers not to vote for Bill Clinton. Opposing Clinton’s positions on abortion and gay rights, the ad stated:

“The Bible warns us not to follow another man in his sin nor help him promote sin lest God chastens us. How then can we vote for Bill Clinton?”

From The IRS and Pulpit Politics:

“In 1995, the IRS revoked the Church at Pierce Creek’s tax-exempt status, citing its partisan political activity. The American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ), founded by evangelist Pat Robertson, sued the IRS to restore the church’s tax exemption.”

The church lost and had its tax exempt status revoked but was told it could reapply for tax exemption so long as they shut the hell up. The Court in its wisdom also ruled:

“…that churches could form separate 501(c)(4) organizations ‘for the promotion of social welfare’ and those organizations in turn could form a Political Action Committee (PAC) that would be free to participate in political campaigns.”

So, it was a victory, of sorts, and a loss, but the government still determines who can say what, where and when, and under what circumstances.

It is this Christian writer’s opinion that pastors need to get rough and tough on this issue.

Hang the tax exempt status.

If the government holds that sword over our heads, remove the sword, have faith in the Lord, say what you will from the pulpit, from both the Left and the Right, and let the government do what it will.

If they revoke our tax exempt status, so be it.

Faithful people don’t contribute to the church for tax purposes! If we are forced to pay taxes as the price of free speech, so be it! Where is our faith?

If we decide not to render to Caesar that which is Caesar’s, we’ll have to have another debate about whether or not that constitutes scriptural or civil disobedience, but at least we’ll have our independence, and demonstrate that the power of God trumps the so-call power of the state.

Rev. Wright should be able to say whatever he wants from an American pulpit! Let the court of public opinion, his congregation, and the Lord God Almighty judge.

Rev. Calvin Butts should be able to endorse Hillary Clinton without fear of the IRS.

And the leaders of Church at Pierce Creek should be able to take out an ad in USA Today saying what they want to say, without Big Brother mugging them in the park.

Pastors answer to God alone, not to Uncle Sam. If we do not draw the line now, we will see government officials eventually censoring sermons. You think this impossible in America? Read on.

How is it we have become so weak, so timid, so faithless, so mealy-mouthed, so compliant and cowardly!? Old time pastors would be chewing our ears off about fearing God, not man, calling us to battle, and criticizing us for cowering in the corner!

We are so ignorant of our own history. This nation never would have come into existence were it not for the leather-lunged preachers in New England proclaiming freedom from Britain, ushering in the American Revolution.

They shouted: “We have no king, but King Jesus!”

From The History of The Johnson Amendment of 1954:

Throughout our nation’s history-both before and after the American Revolution-our nation’s pastors freely spoke out on the political and moral issues of the day. It was their duty and their right under the Constitution to preach against immorality and corruption in the political and the moral realm. Historian James H. Hutson, writing in Religion and the Founding of the American Republic, notes: ‘Preachers seemed to vie with their brethren in other colonies in arousing their congregations against George III.’ And … the House of Representatives sponsored church services in its chambers for nearly 100 years.

The new King George is the U.S. federal government.

Where are the leather-lunged preachers today?

Pastors are being jailed overseas for speaking from the pulpit about moral issues such as homosexuality (see Swedish Pastor Sentenced for ‘Hate Speech’).

How long before the government starts that kind of “hate speech” enforcement here? On that day, no one is safe, not even atheists.

Oh wait. It’s already begun (see ‘Jail grandma’ hate speech debate begins).

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Resources:
The church at Kaweah Bookstore
Liberty Cousel
Princeton University in the American Revolution
The Role of Pastors & Christians in Civil Government