Analysis by Kyle A. Lohmeier
I’ve long considered humankind’s two worst inventions, in no particular order, to be government and religion. Individually, they’re diseases upon the human condition; together they’re terminal cancer. This then explains President Trump’s hostility to the Johnson Amendment, the 1954 law that prohibits tax-exempt religious institutions from participating in political campaigns. Trump revealed his desire to overturn the Johnson Amendment at the National Prayer Breakfast in Washington D.C. last Thursday.
“’I will get rid of and totally destroy the Johnson Amendment and allow our representatives of faith to speak freely and without fear of retribution. I will do that, remember,’ Trump told U.S. politicians, religious leaders and guests including Jordan’s King Abdullah at the annual National Prayer Breakfast,” reads a portion of Jeff Mason and Roberta Rampton’s piece in Reuters.
Reuters talked to the head of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, a very good organization that focuses with laser-like intensity upon its mission, which is perfectly detailed in its name.
“’President Donald Trump and his allies in the religious right seek to turn America’s houses of worship into miniature political action committees,’ said the group’s executive director, Barry Lynn. ‘It would also lead some houses of worship to focus on supporting candidates in exchange for financial and other aid. That would be a disaster for both churches and politics in America,’ Lynn said,”
It’s important at this point, I believe, to point out that all of this nonsensical activity discussed so far is a direct consequence of having a government to begin with; and thus could all have been avoided if everyone could all just learn to get along. As an atheist, it chaps me a bit that of all things in this country, only churches get to dodge the IRS bullet. As an anarchist, part of me is happy that churches are tax-exempt because all things should be free of theft as there shouldn’t be a government to pay for in the first place.
Logically, if you don’t contribute to the pot, which tax-exempt churches don’t do, then why should churches get a say in how the accumulated stolen loot is wasted? That’d be like not putting in for a pizza and then demanding half of it be covered in pineapples and green olives. Then again, that same logic would apply to people who don’t work, are on “benefits” and contribute less in taxes than they get back from government. Of course, denying them the vote would make the Democratic Party disappear overnight, so, that’s a non-starter.
So, we have a government that is kind of somewhat restricted by the constitution, which says congress can’t make any laws with regard to an establishment of religion – like a church, religious order or denomination. This exemption was seen to overrule the 16th Amendment, which allowed the federal government to rob all Americans violently at gunpoint. Some forty years later, government got around to thinking it might be a good idea to prohibit tax-exempt churches from influencing elections. Today, Trump wants to remove that prohibition.
In one important aspect, nothing much would change. Part of the law is essentially unenforceable as it is; pastors routinely preach politics from their pulpits and rarely ever face penalties. And, because we have such a massive and intrusive government, it has to actually be difficult for pastors to avoid topics that could be considered “political.”
Of course, Lynn is correct in his fear of churches becoming miniature PACs, and worse, should the Johnson Amendment be repealed, and in that regard, repealing the law would make for some big changes. All of a sudden megachurch mountebanks like Joel Osteen will have political power and influence to rival that which he wields over his bewildered flock. People like him, with their sports-stadium-sized congregations, would become virtual regional kingmakers overnight. Osteen’s Lakewood Church near Houston welcomes 52,000 faithful every week. What conservative candidate wouldn’t pay big bucks to one guy who could, with a single sentence uttered on a Sunday, deliver 52,000 votes? The one that loses the election, that’s who.
That is, of course, the intended effect of removing the law; to open up a pipeline of money and votes between churches and conservative candidates. Thing is, given our monstrous and idiotic government and the never ending ingenuity of the American people, removing a law that was written when newspapers were the country’s primary source of information is going to have many unintended, and probably hilarious, consequences.
What’s good for the goose is good for the gander, so, Mosques, Synagogues and Unitarian churches would be courted by Democrats to serve as a counterweight to the GOP’s monopoly on the more fundamentalist Christian denominations – which of course would also help deepen the perceived GOP/Jesus/’Murica vs. Jews/Muslims/Liberal commies rift among the electorate. With both parties racing to get as much tax-free money flowing into their war-chests as possible, the rules as to what it takes to establish a “church” might be loosened; we may actually see a brick-and-mortar Pastafarian Church open up! I still have a copy of “The Gospel of the Flying Spaghetti Monster” around here somewhere… Or, maybe I’ll be telling the IRS this is actually a church devoted to the worship of the messenger god of Roman paganism and is therefore tax-exempt; which will come in handy should this ever generate income the IRS would want to tax.
In any event, should Trump and the GOP actually succeed in repealing the Johnson Amendment, expect things to get somehow yet weirder around here.
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