Posted on 04/22/2006 9:05:45 AM PDT by AmericaOne
Below is a copy of an e-mail I received from the ACLJ concerning the efforts of the Americans United for the Separation of Church and State (Americans United for Communism ;-), "Humble Howard" Dean and others to stop our Priests, Pastors, Ministers and others from silencing our churches on speaking out on issues of Morality and other issues of the day, which any church should have the freedom to discuss without fear of losing their tax-exempt status.
This Petition supports H.R. 235, the "Houses of Worship Free Speech Restoration Act." The ACLJ is not asking for donations to sign this petition.
Dear AmericaOne,
Don't allow the Internal Revenue Service to close your church and silence your religious leaders!
Recently, I sent you an email to inform you of a vague, half-century-old law which enables the IRS to shut down your house of worship.
This obscure law is being used by Americans United for Separation of Church and State (AU) and others to intimidate churches into silence on moral issues.
Join our nationwide campaign to give our religious leaders back their voice for morality by adding your name to our Houses of Worship FREE SPEECH PETITION.
It all began in 1954 when then-Senator Lyndon B. Johnson sought political retribution against an opponent who was assisted in his campaign by two non-profit organizations.
As a bill to revise the tax code was being debated on the floor of the Senate, LBJ pushed a little-noticed amendment that barred all tax-exempt groups - including churches - from participating in political activity.
The penalty: loss of tax-exempt status. A heavy price to pay for exercising their free speech rights.
Today, churches in America ARE paying the price. They are threatened with lawsuits and the revocation of their tax-exempt status. Intimidation is silencing our ministers on crucial topics like abortion and same-sex marriage!
In other words - churches are putting their tax-exempt status at risk whenever they speak out on issues of the day.
We must put an end to this! This is a blatant violation of our First Amendment free speech rights.
But we need your signature to help stop this injustice and protect our ministers and houses of worship. Add your name to our online FREE SPEECH PETITION and make your voice heard!
Religious leaders not only have a constitutional right to address the moral issues of the day, many believe they also have a responsibility to do so - especially in the context of political campaigns.
This country has a rich and welcomed history of turning to churches and houses of worship during the debates of the great moral issues of the day.
Why have we put the IRS - which is designed to collect revenue for the general treasury - in the position of being the speech police?
At the ACLJ, we have an important opportunity to correct the errors of the past. That's why the Houses of Worship Free Speech Restoration Act is so vital! But we must have your help.
Lend your name to our FREE SPEECH PETITION today. Your name will be added to tens of thousands of others in this nationwide campaign. With it, we will stand together and protect the rights given to us by our Founding Fathers.
I encourage you to forward this email on to family members, friends, and church members as well to get the word out on this issue!
Thank you for your immediate action to further the cause of freedom.
Lyndon B. Johnson also wrote the law that orignially made Churches file for tax-exempt status in the first place. He did it under the guise of protecting Churches. Of course he lying bigoted bastard knew all along he wanted this 'protection' for Churches so he could shut Churches us. Prior to that, Churches were just assumed to be exempt without filing anything. Technically they still are, but most Churches and even tax experts don't realize that, so almost all churches fill for tax-exempt status which puts them under the thumb of government.
"efforts ... to stop our Priests, Pastors, Ministers and others from silencing our churches...."
Yes, indeed, we must stop the clergy from silencing the church....
Our Church has had to pay a fee, although small, every year to maintain the status or face penalties.
The goon squad that we elected to represent us in Congress is getting ever more brazen in their efforts to crush freedom in this country. This indicates that their plans are in the latter stages and close to fruition. It's probably too late to stop them.
gcruse,
Thanks for pointing out my mistake. I didn't even notice the "silencing our churches" part or where I put it. I'll have to do a better job of editing the next time I post something. I apologize for any confusion this may have caused you or anyone else reading this post.
"...to stop our Priests, Pastors, Ministers and others from silencing our churches..." should read "...to stop our Priests, Pastors, Ministers and others from speaking out...". Below is the entire, corrected paragraph:
"Below is a copy of an e-mail I received from the ACLJ concerning the efforts of the Americans United for the Separation of Church and State (Americans United for Communism ;-), "Humble Howard" Dean and others to stop our Priests, Pastors, Ministers and others from speaking out on issues of Morality and other issues of the day, which any church should have the freedom to discuss without fear of losing their tax-exempt status."
Good Point. Then they would not have to worry about big brother when they speak about Morality and other issues of the day.
Although any church would likely have to forgo at least some of its charity work, like helping out the needy, etc., since the money that would be raised for these "help the needy" programs would likely have to go to pay taxes instead. We as tax payers would probably end up taking it in the chin with more social spending to make up for the churches not being able to help the needy any longer or as much as they used to.
The solution is to give back their tax-exempt status they always had. The idea that churches have to apply and meet government rules is unConsitutional.
Correct me if I'm wrong here, but there is no constitutional provision to provide any group of any sort tax exempt status. That churches have been afforded such status for a long period of time does not make it wise to accept it if it gets in the way of being a city set on a hill.
It isn't difficult to recognize the government has trashed the Constitution and has become a huge public burden.
And, as far as tax payers taking it in the shorts...even if one were to accept the conclusion you posited, if the churches are paying taxes but doing less charitable works and the result is greater cost to taxpayers then the result will be that the raw value (cost wise) of the work of the church will become apparent AND the preachers will have been free to speak to the issues from the pulpits.
Churches "have" to be "registered" in China, and their views on the political spectrum are also highly restricted.
You are of course correct. But then, if you do that, the first political issue your church might be interested in promoting would be a flat tax or the Fair Tax - neither of which would have the charitable deduction for yourself or anyone else.
If it were my church I'd hope the first political issue would be Abortion...as well as the second and perhaps the third. The legal holocaust we have permitted in this nation is an abomination.
After that, I would (were I the decision maker on it) chose to address poverty and adoptions. If the church can show how successfully it can do what the government does so poorly perhaps we could get rid of the onerous and grossely inefficient social welfare projects the democrats have loaded into our government by replacing them through church programs. Get rid of that junk and you've gotten rid of over half the government budget.
If the Church isn't tied to the government through tax exempt conditions and government financing of Church programs then the Church will be free to promote the gospel while they pursue feeding the poor, the homeless and the orphans.
Certainly. My point was, though, that the charitable deduction puts the government in the position to judge what is "charitable" and what is not. And is, on that account, bad law worthy not merely of legal evasion but of opposition.
The simple answer is to remove the hold the government has on the church, trust that God will bless the Church as it stands up for what is right and speaks out into society. We can not allow a tax exempt status to stop or limit us from being salt and light.
Its NEVER too late...As Winston Churchill said,"NEVER QUIT...NEVER GIVE UP!!!!!!!!!!!!
That is what Gene Scott did and he is highly disregarded here. He was smarter than all his critics bound together.
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