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As we continue the discussion on the approaching Presidential election, we look at the Johnson Amendment. Some may not know exactly what it is, or how it affects the Church. But, as we get closer and closer to elections, we can see how important the understanding of this issue truly is. Kenneth Copeland, Pastor George Pearsons, Bishop Keith Butler and David Barton do an outstanding job educating us all as they have an in-depth conversation about the Johnson Amendment. Initially put into practice by then Senator Lyndon B. Johnson, essentially states that tax-exempt organizations cannot express certain opinions about political candidates.
As David Barton eloquently points out, the original intent of America and the Church was vastly different from how we perceive things to be today. “When a Church gets a 501(c)3 letter, it’s called a ‘Letter of Recognition’. It doesn’t grant anything. It recognizes that you’re a Church…” It’s important to recognize this important truth and not think that tax-exempt status is granted those successfully receiving a “tax exempt” status. Barton continues to share, “The reason we don’t tax Churches, and the reason they’re tax exempt, John Marshall… said, ‘the power to tax is the power to destroy’…If you can tax the Church, you can destroy the Church. You can cut out their free speech…” Bringing an even deeper clarity as to how the Johnson Amendment is being used in today’s culture, Barton expresses these words, “Suddenly in America, we can’t do what the Bible says anymore; at least we’re told that. So, the Johnson Amendment is what is used by the critics to say the Church has lost its right of free speech from the pulpit.” To add an even more surprising reality, Barton points out, “…unions are 501(c)3, they endorse all the time and they speak about anything they want to.” Continue Reading…
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