Trump limits IRS action over political activity by churches

Declaring he was giving churches their “voices back,” President Donald Trump signed an executive order Thursday aimed at easing an IRS rule limiting political activity for religious organizations — a move that fell short of a more sweeping order some supporters had expected.

As he marked the National Day of Prayer at the White House on Thursday, Trump signed the order on religious freedom, which directs the Treasury Department not to take “adverse action” over churches or religious organizations for political speech. The rule has rarely been enforced. Still, opponents said the restrictions have a chilling effect on free speech.

“This financial threat against the faith community is over,” Trump said. He has long promised the conservative Christian supporters who helped him win the White House that he would block the regulation, known as the Johnson Amendment, though any repeal would have to be done by Congress.

The amendment, named for then-Sen. Lyndon Johnson, was put into force in 1954. The policy allows a wide range of advocacy on political issues, but in the case of houses of worship, it bars electioneering and outright political endorsements from the pulpit.

Trump’s order also asks federal agencies to consider issuing new regulations that the White House says could help religious groups that object to paying for contraception under the Affordable Care Act health law. And it asks the attorney general to issue guidance on federal religious liberty protections.

Metro leaders weigh in

Meanwhile, several Oklahoma City metroarea religious leaders shared their views on the issue.

Several said they were in support of the executive order.

“We are very thankful for this step by the president toward promoting and protecting religious freedom, and we are hopeful for stronger and more specific action from our leaders in Washington toward securing religious liberty,” said the Rev. Anthony L. Jordan, executive directortreasurer of the Baptist General Convention of Oklahoma.

The Rev. Paul Blair, senior pastor of Fairview Baptist Church and leader of the organization Reclaiming America for Christ, praised Trump’s action. Blair has previously held “Pulpit Freedom Sunday” events at his Edmond church as part of a national initiative defying rules against mixing preaching and politics.

“Whether it be the call for liberty from tyranny in the 1700s, the abolition of slavery in the 1800s or the civil rights efforts of the 1900s, pastors and churches have always been influential in important political, moral and cultural issues. It has only been the last half century that we have been told pastors aren’t supposed to be involved,” Blair said in an email on Thursday.

“I am pleased that the Commander in Chief has decided to support the Constitutional liberty guaranteed in the First Amendment of the Bill of Rights. Our country’s first liberty guarantees the right of the people to freely practice their closely held religious beliefs. It has been a sad period in our country’s history to see the federal government brazenly violate the First Amendment and prosecute Christians and discriminate against Christianity.”

The Rev. Steve Kern, senior pastor of Olivet Baptist Church, 1201 NW 10, also said he favored the executive order but found it sad that it was necessary.

“My comment is that I think it’s sad that the president has to come out with an executive order to guarantee what is already guaranteed us in the Constitution,” Kern said.

“But we’ve gotten so far away from understanding what our Constitution is really all about when it comes to the First Amendment and the Congress not establishing a religion.”

The Rev. Rick Stansberry, senior pastor of Christ the King Catholic Church in Nichols Hills, said he was glad to know there would be some relief for organizations like the Little Sisters of the Poor, a Roman Catholic religious order who aid the elderly poor. The religious order had taken their battle against the federal government’s contraception mandate to the courts.

“Certainly, for all of our Catholic institutions, it was very upsetting to think that we would have to pay for things that we didn’t believe in,” Stansberry said.

He said churches should have the right to talk about public policy issues and legislation that affects the country. However, he said he would be concerned about endorsing political candidates.

A ‘slippery slope’

Meanwhile, several religious leaders expressed opposition to the executive order, saying it could send houses of worship down a “slippery slope.”

Like Stansberry, the Rev. Don Heath and the Rev. Ray Douglass also said they were against the idea of churches endorsing candidates.

“I think it’s a bad idea. We’re putting ourselves on a slippery slope and the slippery slope that we’re putting ourselves on is this: I see us as either having a corporate religion or a government religion,” said Douglass, senior pastor of Greater Mount Olive Baptist Church, 1020 NE 42.

“I’m not saying we shouldn’t be political. I think the Body of Christ should speak out on political issues, but I think there should be a distinct separation between the church endorsing politicians.”

Heath, senior pastor of Edmond Trinity Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), shared similar comments.

“Separation of church and state has been good for the Church and good for the state. I hate to see churches tempted into partisan politics and endorsing candidates,” Heath said. “We won’t be doing that.”

Rabbi Abby Jacobson, spiritual leader of Temple B’nai Israel and president of the Interfaith Alliance of Oklahoma, said she wants to keep her religion and politics separate as a Jewish American, but she knows people who feel the opposite and this troubles her. She said measures like the executive order only benefit those who are in the majority at the moment.

Jacobson said she also found some irony in the measure.

“I find it highly ironic that some of the same voices who are so critical of Muslims seeking to run Muslim countries under Muslim law — those who are so terrified of Sharia law coming to America’s shores — are seeking to impose their own religious laws in this country.”