Op-Ed: Americans United Asks 'Day Of Action' On Johnson Amendment

WASHINGTON, D.C.—Back in November of 2016, just a few days before the presidential election, AVN warned that then-candidate Donald Trump had promised the group of ultra-conservatives attending the Values Voter Summit that he would "give our churches back their voice" by repealing the so-called "Johnson Amendment," the Internal Revenue Service rule that prevents tax-exempt 501(c)(3) organizations from supporting or opposing individual candidates for public office. "We have to give our churches their voice back," Trump said at the time. "Our Christian heritage will be cherished, defended like you've never seen before" by his administration, he promised. "I'm committed to freeing up the pulpits of this nation," added his then-running mate Mike Pence, speaking at the same conference. "We will take the muzzle off people of faith." And since then, Trump and Pence have done their best to keep that promise—and Americans United For Separation of Church and State has worked just as diligently to prevent that from happening—and they've scheduled today as a "Day of Action" to oppose the Johnson Amendment's repeal. "We need your help today to defend the Johnson Amendment—a provision of the tax code that protects the integrity of tax-exempt organizations, including houses of worship, by ensuring they do not endorse or oppose candidates," the group said in an email blast to supporters. "Today, Americans United for Separation of Church and State and our allies are having a Day of Action to urge Congress to protect the Johnson Amendment.We hope you can join our Day of Action! You can find your Representative's number and a sample script of what to say here. "The House of Representatives will be releasing its legislation to overhaul the tax code on Wednesday," the email continued. "And some members of Congress have stated that they want to use this legislation to undermine the Johnson Amendment. If the Johnson Amendment were repealed or weakened, political parties and candidates seeking power could use nonprofits and houses of worship as tools for personal gain and pressure them for endorsements. We need you to raise your voice today! Please join our Day of Action and tell your Representatives that the Johnson Amendment protects the integrity and independence of nonprofits and houses of worship." Sadly, Americans United is in fact soft-pedaling the dangers of allowing churches and other tax-exempt religious groups to support (or perhaps more importantly, disparage and oppose) political candidates. Imagine the religious leaders of entire parishes (or synogogues—or, we suppose, even mosques) being able to tell their parishioners that, "You need to vote for Candidate T [we'll call him] because he's the only one who will treat you and your leaders as you deserve, giving you all the privileges you deserve by being Christian/Jewish: The ability to save unborn children by not allowing your company's insurance plan to cover abortion. The ability to bring further glory to God by encouraging your employees to have more children, in part by denying them coverage for birth control, which God himself opposes! The ability not to have to deal with godless perverts like homosexuals, lesbians and transgenders by being able to deny them employment, and even refusing to serve them at your business, whether that be wedding photography, flower arrangements or wedding cakes. I say to you, if you do not vote for Candidate T, you are committing a sin against God!" Now, imagine for a moment what some parishes (and synagogues) said about Hillary Clinton prior to the last election—all in violation of their status as tax-exempt religious organizations—and that "tax-exempt" factor is an important component of all this. While the candidates themselves and their secular supporters spend millions to run ads, rent billboard space, hire venues for speaking engagements and perform many other activities to support the candidate of their choice (or disparage their candidate's opponent), the money they spend is their own, and that money comes from a pool of contributors who have paid taxes on their earnings, donating whatever they can from what's left over after taxes. But churches and synagogues have no such restraints. Besides not having to pay taxes on any of their parishioners' donations, they also pay no property taxes on their buildings and land, and their employees who are clergy pay no taxes on their earnings. Hence, the religious organizations can spend as much as they can raise through donations to voice their views on political issues, as they already do, and if the Johnson Amendment were repealed, they would be able to use those donations to support their preferred candidates for office—and rest assured that if they were allowed to do that, their pool of donations would increase substantially from the secular community since they could be sure that every penny they donated would go towards electing that candidate. So today's the day to try to make sure that scenario doesn't happen. Those interested may visit the Americans United website and learn how to help stop the Religious Right from gaining an incredible advantage in the struggle to make everyone in this country obey the (conservative) tenets of their faiths—and to keep the very existence of the adult entertainment industry from being squashed under the heel of Big Theocracy.