Salon - Ever since 1954, a legislative add-on known as the Johnson Amendment has prevented charities, social welfare organizations and, perhaps most importantly, churches from endorsing candidates. Such institutions may lose their tax-exempt status if they engage in electioneering. The House [tax] bill would functionally dismantle the Johnson Amendment, thereby opening the door to pastors endorsing candidates from the pulpits and for charities large and small -- even the Red Cross or Salvation Army -- to openly support political candidates or causes in the course of their official charitable work.
“The tax bill threatens the integrity of our elections and all of our tax-exempt organizations," Maggie Garrett, the legislative director for Americans United for Separation of Church and State, said in an emailed statement. "No one wants to turn our charitable nonprofits, houses of worship and foundations into political campaign tools."
2 comments:
Separation of church and state should stand. If anything should be dismantled, it is the entire Trump administration.
We need a law that makes religious display a misdemeanor, similar to public urination/defication. Practice your religion and empty your bladder/bowels as much and however you like, but not in public.
First episode, $50 and a finger-wagging. Second: $100 and an overnight in the jug. Third: $200 and remanded for psych eval. Fourth et seq.: $1000 and a year in the jug.
Keeping religious activity private has lots of support in scripture too, so the only ones who'd object would be the hard-of-thinking, the psychopaths, and the loonies.
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