Trump: Politics, religion mix OK
Pastors need not fear IRS, he says
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump signed an executive order on religious freedom Thursday, telling leaders of the faith community that they no longer have to fear losing their tax- exempt status when they address political issues from the pulpit.
During a National Day of Prayer ceremony in the White House Rose Garden, Trump said spiritual leaders can now speak freely without fearing retribution from the Internal Revenue Service.
“Under my administration, free speech does not end at the steps of a cathedral or a synagogue or any other house of worship. We are giving our churches their voices back,” he said.
People of faith, Trump said, will not be “targeted, bullied or silenced anymore.”
Pastor Ronnie Floyd of Cross Church in Northwest Arkansas, who faced IRS scrutiny in 2004 after an advocacy group challenged one of his sermons, attended Thursday’s signing and praised Trump’s message.
“It was quite historic and very encouraging to know that this administration is all in on religious liberty, and we’re very grateful for that,” Floyd said. “People that have been through what we’ve been through, [ they] really do appreciate today.”
Under what’s known as the Johnson Amendment, 501( c)( 3) nonprofit groups, including churches, cannot endorse political candidates.
Crafted by then- U. S. Sen. Lyndon Johnson and signed into law in 1954, it prevents nonprofit groups from taking sides.
As the IRS website states, nonprofit organizations are “absolutely prohibited from directly or indirectly participating in, or intervening in, any political campaign on behalf of ( or in opposition to) any candidate for elective public office.”
The law limits a nonprofit’s spending as well as its speech.
“Contributions to political campaign funds or public statements of position ( verbal or written) made on behalf of the organization in favor of or in opposition to any candidate for public office clearly violate the prohibition against political campaign activity,” the IRS states. “Violating this prohibition may result in denial or revocation of tax- exempt status and the imposition of certain excise taxes.”
Although the ban on campaign activities has been in place for years, churches are rarely punished for violating the provision, legal experts say.
But the restrictions have a chilling effect on churches, opponents of the Johnson Amendment say.
Legislation to repeal the provision has been introduced periodically but never passed.
Floyd encountered the Johnson Amendment during the 2004 presidential campaign after discussing politics during a July 4 sermon at First Baptist Church in Springdale.
During the message, Floyd spoke positively about President George W. Bush’s Christian faith, highlighting the Republican’s positions on heterosexual marriage and abortion. He also summarized Democratic challenger John Kerry’s views on the issues.
Neither candidate’s name was mentioned, but their photographs appeared on screens behind him, according to news reports. Before wrapping up, Floyd urged churchgoers to register and vote “the way we say we believe, by the authority of God’s word, Christian values, convictions and beliefs. In other words, we must vote God.”
Members of Americans United for Separation of Church and State saw the televised sermon and complained to the IRS.
Soon, Floyd was fielding questions from the federal agency.
The church found an attorney and successfully defended its actions. The complaint was eventually dismissed.
Floyd, who went on to serve as president of the Southern Baptist Convention, praised Trump on Thursday for defending ministers’ free speech rights.
“Any pastor needs to be able to do what they want to do and what their church will permit them to do,” he said.
“Putting a gag order on the pulpits of America is ridiculous,” he said. “We need to give people the right to practice what they believe in their houses of worship and where they work and where they go and where they live. That’s what freedom of religion is.”
In the order, Trump promised his administration would “vigorously enforce Federal law’s robust protections for religious freedom.”
Federal departments and agencies will, “to the greatest extent practicable and to the extent permitted by law, respect and protect the freedom of persons and organizations to engage in religious and political speech,” it said.
The document also orders the labor, treasury and health and human services secretaries to consider changing federal health care regulations so that they accommodate “conscience- based objections.”
Before signing the order and a National Day of Prayer proclamation, Trump announced that he’ll be traveling later this year to Saudi Arabia, Israel and the Vatican, where he’ll meet with Pope Francis.
Wednesday night, Trump had dinner with members of his evangelical board, including Floyd.
While evangelicals generally welcomed Trump’s executive order, other groups raised objections.
“The president is attempting to pander to people who want something that the rest of the American public simply don’t want, which is to turn worship, particularly on Sunday mornings, into campaign rallies,” said Rabbi Jack Moline, president of the Interfaith Alliance.
Liberty Counsel founder Mat Staver, an attorney who helped Floyd’s church handle the 2004 complaint, predicts the IRS no longer will be scrutinizing sermons.
Trump has told the IRS to use “maximum enforcement discretion” in these type of matters, an order the agency will follow, Staver said.
The lawyer praised Trump’s decision to issue the order, adding, “I think it’s long overdue.”
“I don’t think that it’s any government’s business for someone to micromanage what a clergy says in the pulpit,” he added.