Thread: Trump Vows to ‘Destroy’ Law Banning Political Activity by Churches

Trump Vows to ‘Destroy’ Law Banning Political Activity by Churches

By MARK LANDLER
FEB. 2, 2017

WASHINGTON — President Trump vowed Thursday to overturn a law restricting political speech by tax-exempt churches, a potentially huge victory for the religious right and a gesture to his political base.

Mr. Trump said his administration would “totally destroy” the Johnson Amendment, which prohibits churches from engaging in political activity at the risk of losing their tax-exempt status.

Repealing the law would require approval by Congress. Certain tax-exempt organizations — in this case, churches — are not allowed to openly endorse or campaign for political candidates. If they do, under existing law, they risk losing the benefits of their tax-exempt status.

Speaking to a gathering of religious leaders, the president also defended his immigration policy, brushed aside concern about his harsh phone calls with foreign leaders, and ridiculed Arnold Schwarzenegger for his poor ratings in replacing Mr. Trump as host of “Celebrity Apprentice.”

He did not mention an executive order on religious freedom, which critics said would restrict the rights of lesbians and gay men; a draft of the order has circulated, but administration officials have denied that it will be adopted.

In addressing the issue of churches and political speech, Mr. Trump said, “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.”

He added that “freedom of religion is a sacred right, but it is under serious threat.”

During his presidential campaign, Mr. Trump promised to push for repeal of the law, which was passed in 1954 and named for then-Senator Lyndon B. Johnson of Texas, who proposed the change to the tax code.

Mr. Trump also went off topic in his address to the National Prayer Breakfast. He told the audience not to worry about reports that he had held tempestuous phone calls with the leaders of allies Australia and Mexico, saying a tough approach was long overdue.

“When you hear about the tough phone calls, don’t worry,” he said. “We’re being taken advantage of by countries around the world. It’s time for us to be a little tough. It’s not going to happen anymore.”
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Mr. Trump also needled Mr. Schwarzenegger, the former governor of California, for failing to maintain his ratings as the new host of “Celebrity Apprentice.” “We know how that turned out,” he said. “The ratings went down the tubes.”

“I want to just pray for Arnold, for those ratings,” he said.

The president spent much of his speech defending the visa ban on citizens from seven predominantly Muslim countries, which caused chaos at airports and set off protests across the country.

“Terrorism is a fundamental threat to religious freedom,” he declared. “It must be stopped and it will be stopped.”

The president described “peace-loving Muslims” who had been killed by jihadi fighters aligned with the Islamic State, as well as a campaign of genocide against Christians in the Middle East. Extremists, he said, took advantage of the “generosity” of Americans to undermine the nation’s safety.

“My administration will do everything in its power to defend religious liberty,” he said. “We have to feel safe and secure.”

Mr. Trump talked about the influence of faith in his own life, referring to the family Bible, which was used when he took the oath of office at his inauguration. His mother, he said, read to him from that Bible during his childhood.

“America is a nation of believers,” he said. “The quality of our lives is not defined by our material success, but by our spiritual success.”

“I tell you that as someone who has had material success,” he added, before noting that many rich people are “very miserable, unhappy people.”

The breakfast featured the usual menu of homilies and testimonials to the power of faith. But the proceedings took a show-business turn when Mark Burnett, the Hollywood producer, stepped to the podium to introduce the president. Mr. Burnett recalled the influence Mr. Trump’s book, “The Art of the Deal,” had on him as a recently arrived immigrant. He later produced “Celebrity Apprentice” as a reality television vehicle for Mr. Trump.

The president led his remarks with an extended reminiscence about the show, recalling that he fired his agent after the agent rejected Mr. Burnett’s pitch for the program. “I actually got on the phone and fired him myself,” Mr. Trump said with a smile.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/02/u...-churches.html

This is a dark hole to crawl into, Mr. President, and on this issue, we part agreement.

The Johnson Amendment was not passed to hurt Pastors or Churches, it was passed to protect the religious and personal beliefs of the members of the Church which should not be controlled by the political beliefs of Pastors or Church Leaders, but rather by a personal spiritual decision of the member. A member can believe in some or even most of the doctrines and policies of a church, but a member may not agree with all of them. The Johnson Amendment prevents the enormous power of Churches from attaining government power over the members. The Johnson Amendment also protects non-members.

The Johnson Amendment wasn't passed to hurt our religious organizations, it was passed to protect the citizens of the United States, regardless of their religious and personal beliefs including those of Church members.

We should pass the FairTax which solves the entire 501 C 3 problem for all religions and all citizens. It's not the Johnson Amendment that needs repeal, but the originally unconstitutional horrid income tax.

Trump Executive Order Draft Could Curtail LGBT Rights

The religious liberty mime isn't about jobs, trade, wages, budgets, deficits, or fixing our country.

The religious liberty mime is only about exploiting one's religion to discriminate against women and gays.

President doesn't understand that. He's viewing it as the right of a Pastor to speak for him or someone else at a Rally during a campaign without losing the tax-exempt status of the church. But that isn't why churches want this "religious liberty". They want "religious liberty" to refuse birth control coverage in an employer health insurance program, to eliminate the choices of pregnant women to terminate an unwanted pregnancy, and the right of store owners to refuse gay couples a cake.

There is no "liberty" involved here, religious or otherwise, only forcing religious beliefs onto employees, women and gays.

Americans already have all the religious liberty anyone could dream of right up to the point where this so-called "liberty" infringes on the rights of someone else. Do I care who bakes the cakes for whom? No. Do I care how gay people feel when they bounce in to order their wedding cake and are told to leave and refused service, their feelings hurt, their self-esteem destroyed? Yes, the same as I cared when black people were refused a coffee at a diner counter, the same as I cared when black people were refused a seat on the bus, or a good school with white kids in it, or a job at equal pay with equal benefits.

What's going on under the false banner of "religious liberty" isn't right, it's wrong all the way up and all the way down.

This needs to get straightened out, FAST.

Too many great things are happening in our country for "religious liberty" to pull US down.

Stop it now.

Trump Promises to 'Totally Destroy' Limits on Churches' Political Speech


Trump Vows to Overturn Johnson Amendment

The president also slammed the poor ratings of the new host of ‘Celebrity Apprentice.’

By Gabrielle Levy | Political Reporter Feb. 2, 2017, at 12:38 p.m.
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Trump Vows to Overturn Johnson Amendment
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President Donald Trump vowed to "totally destroy the Johnson Amendment" at the National Prayer Breakfast Thursday. (EVAN VUCCI/AP)

President Donald Trump vowed to remove the limits barring churches from making political endorsements, telling a gathering of religious leaders in Washington, D.C., on Thursday he would overturn the law that mandates that faith-based organizations restrict their political speech or risk losing their tax-exempt status.

"Among those freedoms is the right to worship according to our own beliefs," he said at the National Prayer Breakfast. "That is why I will get rid of and totally destroy the Johnson Amendment and let our representatives of faith to speak freely and without fear of retribution."

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"Freedom of religion is a sacred right, but it's also a right under threat all around us. And the world is under serious, serious threat in so many different ways," he added.

The president's comments recalled a pledge he made on the campaign trail when trying to win the support of a skeptical evangelical community.

In order to overturn the Johnson Amendment, the 1954 rule that prohibits nonprofit organizations from political campaigning, Trump would have to rely on Congress to pass a law changing the tax code. Tax reform is already at the top of congressional Republicans' list of priorities and, given that many are simultaneously in favor of granting more influence to religious organizations and lowering taxes, a proposal for the repeal of the Johnson Amendment would likely be welcomed.

Trump's remarks to religious leaders also touched on the overnight dust-up after his calls to the president of Mexico and Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull of Australia. The Washington Post reported that the latter call was ended abruptly by Trump, who tweeted that a deal between Turnbull and former President Barack Obama for the U.S. to accept some refugees from Australia was "dumb.".

On Thursday morning, Trump said such tough talk was long overdue.

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"When you hear about the tough phone calls, don't worry," he said. "We're being taken advantage of by countries around the world. It's time for us to be a little tough. It's not going to happen anymore."

And he again tweaked his "Apprentice" successor, Arnold Schwarzenegger, over the television ratings for the show.

"We had tremendous success on 'The Apprentice.' When I ran for president, I had to leave the show. That's when I knew for sure I was doing it," he said. "They hired a big movie star Arnold Schwarzenegger to take my place, and we know how that turned out," he added. "The ratings went right down the tubes. It's been a total disaster."

Schwarzenegger hit back, suggesting Trump might like his old gig back if he thought he could do it better.

"Hey, Donald, I have a great idea," the "Celebrity Apprentice" host – and former California governor – said in a video posted to Twitter. "How about we switch jobs?"

"You take over TV because you're such an expert in ratings, and I take over your job," he said. "Then people can finally sleep comfortably again."

http://www.usnews.com/news/politics/...litical-speech