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Brown180a.jpg
A Movement to Break the Silence of Churches
in Political Campaigns
Floyd and Mary Beth Brown 10/2/2008
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A Movement to Break the Silence of Churches in Political Campaigns

By Floyd and Mary Beth Brown

In the summer of 1954, an ambitious senator from Texas running for re-election became afraid that he might not win re-election because several large churches in the state were speaking out against his liberal politics. So what did he do? Powerful Sen. Lyndon Baines Johnson rammed through Congress legislation that stripped these churches of their free-speech rights.

Fifty-four years after this travesty of justice became law; a courageous group of voices is breaking the silence.

Johnson manipulated the process and his fellow Senators who were anxious to leave for summer recess in 1954. No hearings, testimony or comments by any tax-exempt organizations occurred before this prohibition entered the Internal Revenue Tax Code. His amendment to the IRS Code bans intervention in political campaigns by organizations, including churches, which receive federal tax-exempt status. If a pastor speaks too loudly, the entire church can lose their tax-exemption. It worked like a charm for Johnson, and it stopped all criticism of him in Texas churches.

On September 28, a heroic group of pastors challenged the ban by testing their First Amendment rights. They are speaking out in their pulpits on politics.


But the question that begs to be answered is: has this prohibition contributed to moral decay in America? The moral decline of the nation accelerated after the ban was instituted. Abortion, sexual crimes, rape and pornography have all increased dramatically since Johnson’s gag order was passed.

“I believe the church has been silent too long, which is why we have so much corruption in the world now,” said one of those courageous ministers, Rev. Mike Gonzalez of Columbia, S.C.

The First Amendment of the Constitution provides that “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof…” Erik Stanley, legal counsel for Alliance Defense Fund, the organization that sponsored the Pulpit Freedom Sunday, argues, “IRS rules don’t trump the Constitution—and the First Amendment trumps the Johnson Amendment.”

A cloud of intimidation has been hanging over churches since 1954. “Pastors have a right to speak about biblical values from the pulpit without fear of punishment,” Stanley said. “No one should be able to use the government to intimidate pastors into giving up their constitutional rights…Groups like Americans United intentionally trigger IRS investigations that will silence churches through fear, intimidation, and disinformation.”

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United Church of Christ vs IRS COLOR
By Bob Englehart - The Hartford Courant * Posted 3/3/2008 12:00:00 AM
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United Church of Christ vs IRS COLOR
© Copyright 2008  Bob Englehart - All Rights Reserved.

Posted By: Jonathan Colb  on Friday, October 03, 2008

Under the Browns' proposed tax reform, most of these poor "victimized" churches would probably agitate for regressive social legislation and ultraconservative (mostly Republican) politicians.

How convenient! While we're at it, why don't we just give the churches the formal and exclusive authority to dictate our nation's laws?    

If political arm-twisting is so important to Evangelical leaders and they want to indulge in even more of it than they currently get away with, then let them pay their rightful share of taxes just like the rest of us mere mortals, and they will be within their rights to do so.

Posted By: Mark P  on Friday, October 03, 2008

No one is forcing the churches to file for tax exempt status.  Congregation leaders have the same free speech rights as anyone else.  If they apply for 501(C)3 tax exempt status, they voluntarily give up the right to support or oppose candidates.  The ACLU and Americans United are also tax exempt organizations and are bound by the same rules.  The idea was to prevent tax exempt organizations from speaking out against candidates who would take that status away.  Want to speak freely?  Render unto Caesar.

Posted By: geoff  on Friday, October 03, 2008

So: am I reading this right? theocracy is OK for the US, but bad for rest of the world (i.e. the Middle East)?

There were reasons why the "fouding fathers" tried to separate church & state. Too few seem to know enuf history to understand why...

Posted By: Good Life  on Friday, October 03, 2008

Notice that they didn't justify combining religion and politics through their religious teachings.  I guess the Jewish people might be able to do it as God created the political unit of ancient Israel, but there isn't a Christian in the country that could justify such a position.  

Demanding Judeo-Christian beliefs is actually unconstitutional.

Article VI, Clause 3 says “but no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States.”

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