TWO Baptist churches in Texas, United States, are challenging a law that penalises non-profit organisations’ endorsement of political election candidates.
The Johnson Amendment, introduced in 1954 by President Lyndon B. Johnson, applies to tax-exempt organisations, including churches and charities, and prevents their endorsing or opposing candidates explicitly. If they do, they can lose their non-profit status.
The Internal Revenue Service automatically gives churches the status under the Internal Revenue Code, classing them as 501(c) (3) and federal-tax exempt, a code that also allows their donors to deduct contributions from their taxes.
The lawsuit was filed in Texas on behalf of the National Religious Broadcasters (NRB), a conservative Christian prayer group, Intercessors for America, and two Texas Baptist churches. The two churches have not commented on the pending case.
The NRB said that it was not seeking a ruling before the November presidential election. Its statement said that the amendment was being used “to wrongfully silence” organisations. The NRB argues that the amendment is discriminatory, that the Internal Revenue Service targets conservative organisations when monitoring the code, and that many Democrat-supporting non-profit organisations, including news outlets, have not been prosecuted. It refers to the National Catholic Reporter as one example.
The lawsuit quotes passages from the Bible to back up its argument that “God set forth standards for choosing the kings for Israel,” and says that “the prescriptions of the Old Testament concerning the duty to follow God’s standards in the selection of a political leader are applicable by principle to Christians today.
“Plaintiffs believe that they have a duty to teach the full counsel of the word of God, and to declare when candidates have deviated from the right or the left of God’s standards.”
The NRB President and CEO, Troy Miller, said: “For too long, churches have been instructed to remain silent on pressing matters of conscience and conviction during election season or risk their 501(c)(3) status.
“We believe that all nonprofits should have the constitutional right to freely express their point of view on candidates, elections, and issues on the ballot. Our challenge to the Johnson Amendment is about securing the future of free expression for all Americans, particularly those standing in the pulpit.”
Donald Trump has said repeatedly that he will “totally destroy” the amendment, although legislation for formal repeal, proposed in the House of Representatives under his tenure in 2017, was later removed from Congress business.
Since 2008, a conservative Christian legal group, Alliance Defending Freedom, has organised a “Pulpit Freedom Sunday”, encouraging pastors to violate the law intentionally.
In practice, the IRS has been reluctant to pursue churches that endorse candidates. Only a handful of cases have been pursued in the past decade, and in just one was tax-exempt status removed.
A survey in 2019 by Pew Research found that people in the US would prefer to keep religion and politics separate. Nearly two-thirds (63 per cent) wanted places of worship to stay out of politics, while three-quarters (76 per cent) said that churches and other congregations should not endorse candidates.