Is the Johnson Amendment Discrimination Against Religious Organizations

The Johnson Amendment was, presented to Congress by then Senator Lyndon B. Johnson, ratified and enacted as law in 1954. This was put into effect because he realized the great influence ministers had on their congregations, and they usually put forward a conservative message. The Johnson Amendment was one of the first real effective measures taken by liberal politicians to restrict the conservative message to many prospective voters. The Johnson Amendment is just another chiseling away at our largely Christian society which helps the election of secular progressives to high offices. And we wonder why our government is making so many secular decisions contrary to religious principles.

Below is my paraphrasing of the portion of the Johnson Amendment that affects religious and charitable organizations

It appears the Johnson Amendment really cuts the legs out from under religious and charitable organizations. I thought we all had First Amendment rights, even to talk about political issues. But the Johnson Amendment says otherwise. Read my paraphrasing of the Johnson Amendment below:

Groups formed under Section 501(c) (3) of the U.S. tax code are prohibited from taking part in political activities without risking the loss of tax exempt status if violated, under the Johnson Amendment. These organizations must not conduct any activities related to any organized efforts that tries to influence the decision making process about electoral campaigns, where politicians are chosen to office or elections are decided.

The IRS has their own interpretation of the Johnson Amendment.

The IRS interpretation of the Johnson Amendment is a very long read and can be found on the IRS Web Site here. The stance of this document is comical in my humble opinion. The author of the document makes it sound like they (the IRS) must ensure politics does not undermine our religious and charitable organizations. That is a spin of what the real reason for the Johnson Amendment was. The real reason is to prevent religious, conservative leaders from passing on their beliefs and knowledge to the masses. I’m tired of all the spin that goes on with this type of discrimination regarding religious rights in this country.

What the Supreme Court decided about the Johnson Amendment:

The US Supreme Court decided that the Johnson Amendment was constitutional based on their decision that tax exempt status is a privilege and not a right. Based on this decision the Johnson Amendment authorizes the IRS to cancel tax exempt status on any religious or charitable organization that exercises their First Amendment rights and discuses any political issue.

What a farce this is within our government. If someone put a bill up (like the Johnson Amendment) before congress to prohibit the press from covering government activities, because being on government property is a privilege and not a right, we would see such an outcry from the press. The press would have every right to protest this decision under their First Amendment rights, but why doesn't that apply to religious organizations and lead to the overturning of the Johnson Amendment. I believe First Amendment Rights in this situation overrides the "privilege rather than a right argument" of the Johnson Amendment decision by the US Supreme Court.

What we need to do about the Johnson Amendment

Restricting speech of our religious leaders, through the Johnson Amendment, was a smart move on the part of the secular progressives in their campaign to silence their opposition and expand further into our government. Why do you think we have so many dishonest politicians in both houses of congress and the executive branch today. Some of the Supreme Court appointees rule on most cases in a secular progressive manner as well (just like they did in the Johnson Amendment decision.) I am not sure why we are not fighting back. I am very vocal and send many letters and emails to my representatives trying to get things changed. If all of us religious people wrote our representatives about repealing the Johnson Amendment, I'll bet it would be overturned very quickly.

We, religious people, must quit sitting on our hands and get involved in politics. We pray to God for help, but don't you think he expects us to take action to help him make our prayers come true. Prayer is a powerful tool, but I believe God gave us the ability to choose to empower us to do the right thing. This is a powerful responsibility He has provided us. If we don't use it to take the right actions (repeal the Johnson Amendment) then we do not fulfill the responsibility God gave us. If you pray for something, you should take positive actions to ensure it happens. We are protected by the Full Armor of God so never fear taking action on all things we need to change to prevent secular progressives from taking over. Repeal the Johnson Amendment now, but don't stop there. It is time to clean house and we have to get it done. We can't just pray and sit around waiting for it to happen. We must go after it aggressively to ensure it happens.

 

Take care and God bless all of you