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Updated 2 hours ago
At the National Prayer Breakfast, President Trump promised to “totally destroy” the so-called “Johnson Amendment,” a law that prohibits churches from endorsing or opposing political candidates at the risk of losing their tax-exempt status.
Politifact.com gives the background on how the amendment became law: “The restriction was championed by (Lyndon Johnson) in 1954 when Johnson was a U.S. senator running for re-election. A conservative nonprofit group that wanted to limit the treaty-making ability of the president produced material that called for electing (Johnson's) primary opponent, millionaire rancher-oilman Dudley Dougherty … . There was no church involved.
“Johnson, then Democratic minority leader, responded by introducing an amendment to Section 501(c)(3) of the federal tax code dealing with tax-exempt charitable organizations, including groups organized and operated exclusively for religious, charitable, scientific, literacy and educational purposes, or to prevent cruelty to children or animals. It said, in effect, that if you want to be absolved from paying taxes, you couldn't be involved in partisan politics.”
Conservatives have argued that the Johnson Amendment limits pastors' free speech, ignores the nation's history and is applied unevenly, especially when it comes to black churches, which have a long history of inviting mostly Democrat candidates to speak and occasionally endorsing them without the IRS challenging their tax-exempt status.
There is a larger point. From the founding of the nation, through the Civil War when fiery pro- and anti-slavery sermons were heard from pulpits, to Prohibition, to contemporary examples, the ordained have played active roles in the nation's political and social life. Pastors should be as free as anyone to speak on political issues, but should they do so from the pulpit? By focusing more on the temporal than the eternal, there is the risk of diluting the power in their primary message.
If I go to a political rally, I expect to hear political speeches. When I go to church, I expect soul food.
Many political views are represented in my church. If the pastor began preaching on politics, he would find people, including me, headed for the exits. There is also the presumption that people are uninformed, needing a pastor to tell them what to think. This is as silly as the notion that conservatives listen to Rush Limbaugh to know what to believe.
Yes, Congress should repeal the law prohibiting preachers from talking about politics. The larger question is: Should preachers preach on politics and to what end?
Muslims would have to be included. How comfortable would conservatives campaigning for repeal of the Johnson law be if some imams began preaching death to America and endorsing Muslim candidates for political office?
Would repeal of the Johnson Amendment lead to activist mosques supporting terrorist groups? It's already happened in the Holy Land Foundation case, where the government alleged money passed through the charity to support Hamas, a designated foreign terrorist organization.
Whether the Johnson Amendment is repealed or not, evangelicals have a more powerful message than partisan politics.
Isn't that a better message for conservative Christians to preach than the sinking sand of partisan politics?
Cal Thomas is a columnist for USA Today.
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