Government Tying the Hands of Churches-Intimidation, Threats

How Government is Tying the Hands of our Churchesby Erik Stanley, ADF Senior Counsel

Is a pastor free to preach his heart without fearing censorship or control from the government? At first blush, this question might seem rather ridiculous in the "land of the free," where pastors since the Pilgrims have taken their stands everywhere from the halls of the Continental Congress to the streets of Selma, giving crucial moral and spiritual leadership to their fellow citizens.

Given that heritage, concerns about government censorship of our pastors ring a little hollow to some Americans. "My pastor seems free enough," many would say. And, of course, many would take similar exception to any insinuation that the government is steadily encroaching on the liberties that have traditionally nurtured and protected religious faith in this country.

But perception is not always reality, and one potent threat to religious freedom has been quietly infiltrating America’s churches since 1954. In that year Lyndon Johnson – then a powerful Texas senator facing a tough re-election battle – found his re-election bid blocked by two influential private non-profits that distributed thousands of pieces of literature against him.

To Johnson's mind, the impact of that literature had to be neutralized, and he soon hit on an ingenious plan to silence his opponents. On July 2, 1954, he proposed an amendment to a pending tax overhaul bill that prohibited non-profits (including churches and Christian ministries) from supporting or opposing candidates for office. It passed unanimously.

Johnson's amendment did more than stop the opposition of these two non-profits in their tracks. It turned 200 years of American history on its ear. For the first time, the federal government was actually authorized to punish a pastor for preaching about candidates during an election season.

Since that day more than half a century ago, pastors have been increasingly censored by the Internal Revenue Service from speaking freely from their pulpits during election seasons. Pastors who believe their faith has something to say about a candidate running for office, or who want to present a biblical perspective on an issue made prominent by an election campaign – abortion, say, or same-sex “marriage” – must remain silent, or risk losing their church's tax-exempt status.

In other words, for 56 years the IRS has been acting as a state speech police, monitoring – and censoring – what pastors say to their congregations. And, if today the government can tell your pastor not to apply Scriptures to candidates and election issues, then tomorrow it will be able to restrict his Bible-based speech on other, non-election issues – like homosexual behavior – that the government decides it has an interest in protecting. After that, it won’t be long before the government will move to restrict the speech of your pastor on even the very basics of the faith.


Now, whether you believe that your pastor should preach about candidates during election season or not, the point is that it's not in the interest of religious freedom to allow the government to make that decision for us. Nor is it the job of the state to decide how closely a church can follow the mandates of Scripture in governing itself and fulfilling the Great Commission.

But in the wake of the Johnson amendment, local, state, and federal officials have gradually begun issuing themselves what increasingly looks like a virtual license to hunt churches by limiting where they meet, whom they hire, what public facilities and funds they can utilize, and how much their members may evangelize and minister within a community.

So, today, a federal agency can order a Louisiana church to cease and desist from feeding and housing Hurricane Katrina refugees – because its members invited those same people to a Bible study. New York City officials can deny churches the right to worship in empty public school buildings that are open to any other group. New Jersey can threaten to erase a Christian ministry’s tax-exempt status, simply for refusing to rent its worship facility for a same-sex “civil union” ceremony.


The loss of freedom comes to a nation by many trails, and the Johnson Amendment is one clearly marked path. Today, our pastors are not free to preach about candidates and elections; tomorrow they may not be free to preach on other topics. The constrictions that have gradually encroached on church freedom across these last five decades will continue to tighten, unless we stand boldly for the liberties that are our God-given and constitutional heritage.

Religious freedom is too important to be left to the whim of political correctness. It is time to get rid of the Johnson Amendment and move government out of our pulpits and churches.


-Go to speakupmovement.org/church to learn more about what ADF is doing to unleash the voice of the church.

$1 Trillion And Counting

Gary Bauer-American Values

The costs of ObamaCare just keep going up and up and up. Every week it seems we get more news that Obama’s socialized medicine scheme is going to cost a lot more than we were told. Anyone with an ounce of common sense knew that. Government does few things more efficiently or at less expense than the private sector.

The latest report from the Congressional Budget Office finds that ObamaCare may cost an additional $115 billion, pushing the total price tag above $1 trillion. There are tens of billions for administrative costs (more bureaucrats), $34 billion for community health centers and $39 billion for Indian healthcare. (If you want an example of government-run healthcare in action, take a look at the Indian reservations. It’s not pretty.)

But wait there’s more… You may recall several weeks ago that Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA) and Rep. Bart Stupak (D-MI) issued letters to the CEOs of several companies that had reported negative charges due the new taxes that will be imposed by ObamaCare. Waxman and Stupak had planned on dragging these CEOs before their committee and grilling them on their statements, since ObamaCare was supposed to lower costs after all. That hearing never happened. It was cancelled by Waxman and Stupak.

Here’s why: First, they realized that the CEOs were simply following the law, which requires them to publicly disclose anything that is likely to negatively impact their companies’ bottom line so that shareholders can have access to that information too. Second, they realized their analysis of the negative tax implications for these corporations was correct. Third, and most damning, the companies had done an analysis of the new law and estimated the costs of keeping their existing health insurance coverage or dumping all their employees into ObamaCare and paying the employer fines.

Guess what they found? It was significantly more cost effective for the companies to cancel their health insurance and just pay the fines. Waxman and Stupak didn’t want you to hear about that, and according to press reports, “the hearing was cancelled shortly after staff read the documents.”

For example, AT&T currently pays nearly $2.5 billion to provide health insurance for its employees. If it stopped offering its employees health insurance, it would only have to pay $600 million in fines. Guess what that means for you? Obama’s oft-repeated promises that no one will be forced to give up their current insurance were wrong.

This is exactly what conservatives warned would happen. Liberal politicians created an incentive for companies to drop their insurance benefits and force everyone into Obama’s socialized medicine scheme. According to Politico, “If many employers drop coverage, it would dramatically increase the cost of the overhaul plan,” which is happening anyway and it hasn’t even started yet!

How many of you heard about either of these issues on the evening news? We just had a major national debate about this issue and the tremendous costs involved. The American people were overwhelmingly opposed to ObamaCare. Liberal politicians passed it anyway, and they did so on the absurd claim that another Big Government program was going to “save money.” But when we learn those claims were wrong, the media just ignores it.

Comedy Central blasphemes Jesus. Jihad now?

The Comedy Central network has a long history of denigrating Jesus Christ and the Christian faith. Now, they are developing a new series called "JC" that will openly mock Jesus and give Comedy Central even more time and latitude to increase their attacks on a religion practiced by 80 percent of Americans.

Just weeks ago, Comedy Central censored a depiction of the prophet Mohammad after intense Muslim protest. But Christians are fair game!

I am outraged by this unabashed double standard, and I'm protesting against Comedy Central and its parent company Viacom and their plans to air this show mocking Christians.

I have just added my name to a Media Research Center petition, and I'm urging you to do the same by clicking here now:
http://www.mrcaction.org/555/petition.asp?PID=24646807&NID=1

We cannot allow the Hollywood Elite and the left-wing media to continue to savage Christians. That's why I'm taking action and I hope you will do the same.


Thanks for joining with me.


Peter Robberson

Not European Socialists Yet...

From: Gary L. Bauer-American Values
Solving Debt With More Debt?

Over the weekend, the European Union cobbled together a $1 trillion bailout fund for its weakest partners after world markets fell last week due to growing fears of an imminent debt crisis. The bold action calmed the markets Monday, but many analysts are warning that this is a band aid, not a cure. As one economist commented, “It does seem like you’re just giving the addict another fix.”

Closer to home, the credit rating company Moody’s recently warned that the United States is facing a potential debt shock within a few years, perhaps as early as 2013. The Congressional Budget Office projects that by 2020, interest payments on the national debt will reach 20% of tax revenues – a level that puts the credit rating of the United States at risk.

But, experts warn we could hit could that mark well before 2020 if economic conditions deteriorate. Meanwhile, The Hill reports that congressional Democrats are gearing up to push several “big-ticket items” totaling hundreds of billions of dollars in more spending. And Obama has done nothing to encourage economic growth. In fact, his budgets have produced record deficits and his proposals call for massive tax increases, creating a lot of uncertainty for small businesses.

There is a common theme to the great challenge confronting major nations today: The expansion of government, which led to more and more debt, as politicians made promises to voters that they could not possibly keep. This problem can’t be solved by higher taxation because higher taxes kill economic growth. The only way it can be solved is by reeling in the size and growth of government.

The future of Western Civilization may well rest with the ability of conservative politicians to articulate the wisdom of Ronald Reagan, who reminded us nearly 30 years ago, “In this present crisis, government is not the solution to our problem; government is the problem.”

Here’s a hopeful thought to consider. Streets of Greece are filled with thousands of people demanding that government not be cut back. Here the streets are filled with tens of thousands of people demanding that government be scaled back. We are not European socialists yet.

If only pastors would stand up again

Some say that this precise thing is responsible for the decline of America; the abdication of leadership from our pulpits...
Alliance Defense Fund.org

Get in the Game

Good Article. In church today the 31 year old pastor said that the average young person texts 5000 times per month. New Media is their life and everything else is noise...Get in the game is you want them to hear you...
http://itknowledgeexchange.techtarget.com/total-cio/a-generation-of-social-media-addicts/

Poll: Obama has Lost Almost Half of his US Jewish Support - Politics & Gov't - Israel News - Israel National News

This is interesting and an encouraging sign. Now if only the other groups will wake up to the fact that they have been deceived
Poll: Obama has Lost Almost Half of his US Jewish Support - Politics & Gov't - Israel News - Israel National News