Freepreach.org - Protecting the Free Expression of All Religious Traditions
IRS ban on church political speech has tainted past.
Jay Sekulow, chief counsel for the American Center for Law and Justice, writes that the law preventing religious institutions from participating in political activity works against churches' traditional role in political debate since the Revolutionary era. In his editorial, Sekulow articulates the actual origins of the provision:
In 1954, then-Sen. Lyndon B. Johnson sought political retribution against an opponent who was assisted in his campaign by two non-profit organizations. Johnson pushed a little-known amendment that became law that barred tax-exempt groups--including churches--from participating in political activity. The penalty: loss of tax-exempt status.
Today, this history is all but forgotten, and people simply assume that such censorship of internal church expression is just another brick in the wall of separation of church and state. Not so. Sekulow reasons that proponents of a new bill that would take back such power from the IRS, the Houses of Worship Free Speech Restoration Act, sponsored by Rep. Walter Jones (R-N.C.), are simply seeking to allow pastors, priests, rabbis, and imams the same freedom to discuss the important moral issues of the day that the rest of us share.