A Houston-Area Church Is Going To Host ‘Drag Bingo’ For Children
(ktrh.iheart.com)
🤢 These people are sick! 🤮
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Churches aren't required to pay taxes.
If churches apply for 501(c)3 status, this gives their members the ability to claim tax deductions for their donations. For this privilege, the churches enter a voluntary contract with the state.
The Johnson Amendment only applies to those churches who sold their birthrights (freedom of religion) for a bowl of porridge (tax deductions for members).
How can a church which is not subject to taxation lose its tax exemptions?
As far as your claims about the Johnson Amendment, how do you explain what happened to the uncowardly pastor and members of the Indianapolis Baptist Temple? Because the Indianapolis Baptist Temple filed 501(c)3 paperwork so its members could make tax-free donations, it was required not to endorse candidates or speak about politics from the pulpit.
The feds kicked down the doors and confiscated his church because the pastor violated the Johnson Amendment. As the article states, "Federal marshals seized an Indianapolis church Tuesday, carrying out a judge's order to confiscate the property because of $6 million in years of back taxes and penalties.
Why did the church owe $6 million in "back taxes" and penalties to begin with? Do you really think those penalties were for something other than Johnson Amendment violations? Why did the courts reject the appeal of the case?
The courage comes by not filing 501(c)3 paperwork in the first place. It requires telling your members they don't get a tax break for donations because you're not willing to give up your First Amendment rights...
I don't know anything about that church and what happened to them, but many pastors purposely violate the Johnson amendment in order to challenge it court but the IRS has yet to come after them.
https://adfmedia.org/press-release/pulpit-initiative-pulpit-freedom-sunday
Why would the IRS go after churches affiliated with a team of lawyers when they're only speaking freely one Sunday a year and risk the Johnson Amendment being overturned by the courts?
taps forehead
Legal Alliance Gains Host of Court Victories for Conservative Christian Movement
The comparison may or may not prove apt, but these are heady days for Alliance Defending Freedom, which, with its $40 million annual budget, 40-plus staff lawyers and hundreds of affiliated lawyers, has emerged as the largest legal force of the religious right, arguing hundreds of pro bono cases across the country.
In perhaps its most aggressive effort, the alliance organizes an annual Pulpit Freedom Sunday, enlisting pastors, who under federal rules may not endorse politicians or bills, to link “biblical principles” to politics in their sermons. In June, more than 1,000 pastors signed up to preach “the truth about marriage.”
https://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/12/us/legal-alliance-gains-host-of-court-victories-for-conservative-christian-movement.html
Archived link - https://archive.ph/J2HFE
Think logically.
That's exactly my point. They don't go after them because they know there is a significantly likelihood they'll lose and the Johnson Amendment will be overturned. Large numbers of churches and pastors self-censor and so the IRS has very little to gain and a lot to lose by trying to enforce the Johnson Amendment and having it challenged.
What? That a group of pastors violate the Johnson Amendment once a year and the IRS doesn't care because it's once a year production? Not only that, but the Alliance for Defending Freedom picks the topic of their sermons. Kek.