The revelations about the IRS targeting conservative groups seem to keep coming.  According to Fox News, the IRS targeting went broader than originally reported. Apparently, the IRS’ additional scrutiny “went beyond targeting ‘Tea Party’ and ‘patriot’ groups to include those focused on government spending, the Constitution and several other broad areas.”

Michigan representative Mike Rogers was on Fox News Sunday where he said: “The conclusion that the IRS came to is that they did have agents who were engaged in intimidation of political groups… I don’t care if you’re a conservative, a liberal, a Democrat or a Republican, this should send a chill up your spine. It needs to have a full investigation.”

This news is bad.  And it should send a chill up our spines to know that a very powerful branch of the federal government was specifically targeting political groups with which it disagreed.  Such behavior is more fitting in an authoritarian style of government and should have no place in our constitutional republic.  It is chilling to be labeled, even in a indirect way, as an enemy of the state and to have the power of the federal government arrayed against you.

But what should be reported is that the targeting by the IRS goes even deeper than what is just reported.  Because the IRS has been targeting churches since the passage of the Johnson Amendment in 1954.  There is no difference between what the IRS has been caught doing with conservative groups and what the IRS has done to churches for the last 59 years.  Both are intimidation.  Imagine the impact of a system of intimidation targeting a particular group left unchecked for over half a century.  Because that is exactly what has happened with America’s churches.

The Johnson Amendment was passed in 1954 because Senator Lyndon Johnson did not like the views of his political opponents.  It was a naked attempt to keep the reins of raw power in his own hands and to silence non-profit groups who opposed his reelection because they believed he was soft on communism.  Johnson devised a clever way to target these groups, and his amendment to 501(c)(3) of the tax code has since been applied to intimidate churches and pastors across the country into silence on the moral qualifications of candidates and the positions they hold.

Free speech is a fragile thing and it needs breathing space to exist.  The power of government can all too easily squelch dissent.  In 1926, The U.S. Supreme Court stated that vague laws chill free speech because “People of common intelligence must necessarily guess at [the law’s] meaning and differ as to its application.”  What this means is that if the government enacts a vague speech regulation, people will not know where the line is between what is permissible and what is prohibited.  Thus, they will “chill” their own speech.  Stated more simply, people will not speak at all if there is uncertainty over whether the power of government will come down on them if they say something that might violate the law.  This is what we awe seeing first hand with the revelations of the IRS’ targeting of conservative groups.  And this has been the problem with the Johnson Amendment and the IRS’ vague regulations enforcing it.  The law does not give any certainty over what is allowed and what is permitted from the pulpits of America’s churches.  So pastors, concerned that they might say something that would trigger the enforcement power of the IRS (a very powerful government agency), stay silent.

It’s good to shine the light on to the private and devious machinations of the federal government when those occur.  But let’s recognize that conservative groups have not been the only ones in the crosshairs of the IRS.  America’s churches have suffered for too long under the intimidation of the IRS.  The best way to shine the light on that intimidation is to stand in the face of it.  That’s why we launched Pulpit Freedom Sunday. And that’s why we hope that if you are a pastor, you will go today to sign up to participate in Pulpit Freedom Sunday.  It’s time for the IRS to stop using its power to squelch free speech and freedom of religion of America’s churches.

The IRS recently apologized for targeting conservative groups with audits and investigations during the 2012 election.  In some cases, the IRS asked about political affiliations, lists of donors, and family members’ activities.  Apparently, the groups were targeted because they had the words “tea party” or “patriot” in their names.  An IRS official apologized, saying, “That was wrong. That was absolutely incorrect, it was insensitive and it was inappropriate. That’s not how we go about selecting cases for further review… The IRS would like to apologize for that.”

What the IRS did here is unconstitutional.  It is always outrageous when the coercive powers of government are used for political intimidation.  And I am glad that the IRS has apologized for its actions.  But this story illustrates the problem when we allow government agencies and officials to exercise unfettered power to enforce vague and ambiguous laws.

The IRS has in fact been exercising that kind of power since 1954 with the Johnson Amendment that allows it to censor a pastor’s sermon from the pulpit.  The Johnson Amendment prohibits “participating in or intervening in” a political campaign “on behalf of or in opposition to a candidate for public office.”  The IRS has interpreted this over the years to say that churches cannot “directly or indirectly” participate in a campaign.  But there is no definition of what it means to “indirectly” participate in a campaign.  The IRS tells churches that it must consider “all the facts and circumstances” to determine when a church has violated the Johnson Amendment.  Basically, this means that it won’t tell churches with precision what speech violates the Johnson Amendment and instead will wait and evaluate everything after the fact to then determine if the church has violated the law.  The IRS even went so far as to say that a church could violate the Johnson Amendment by the use of “code words” where it doesn’t even have to name a candidate specifically but if it speaks in a certain way that the IRS believes supports or opposes a candidate, then that could violate the law.

The point here is that the IRS enforcement of the Johnson Amendment is a situation particularly susceptible to abuse of power.  The IRS is unaccountable for who it investigates, when it investigates, or even whether it investigates violations of the Johnson Amendment.  It issues vague pronouncements designed to intimidate churches into silence out of fear of an IRS audit or penalties.  The IRS’ recent apology demonstrates that it has broad, coercive, and unconstitutional powers that can be used improperly to chill speech and intimidate the exercise of constitutional rights.  But that’s what the IRS has been doing with the Johnson Amendment since 1954. The situation is even worse when considering the fact that the Johnson Amendment was passed in the first place to silence political opponents of Senator Lyndon Johnson.

The Johnson Amendment is an unconstitutional restriction on a pastor’s right to speak freely from the pulpit and it allows the IRS to utilize intimidation to enforce the law and chill constitutionally protected speech.  Alliance Defending Freedom has been fighting the Johnson Amendment and its unconstitutional effects on churches and pastors.  That’s why we started Pulpit Freedom Sunday in 2008.  If you are a pastor, sign up to participate in Pulpit Freedom Sunday on June 9, 2013.  This year’s Pulpit Freedom Sunday is about marriage, but it remains about the broader principle that no IRS official should ever tell a pastor what he can or cannot say from the pulpit.

The recent IRS apology is a beginning.  But the IRS should also apologize for 59 years of intimidation of pastors and churches.  It’s time to end the Johnson Amendment’s regime of censorship.

Religious liberty will likely take a step forward May 22, when the New York City Council votes on a resolution asking the New York Legislature to overturn a state law that permits the New York City public school policy that bans private worship services in the vacant buildings when school is not in session.

This is the latest turn in the ongoing effort to repeal the New York City public school’s anti-worship service policy.  Alliance Defending Freedom’s lawsuit on behalf of NYC church Bronx Household of Faith is also challenging the policy in court.  Currently, churches and other religious groups are holding worship services in the schools because of a federal district court injunction against the policy issued in June 2012.  The City appealed the court order, and we are awaiting a ruling by the federal appeals court in New York City.

NYC Council member (and Pastor) Fernando Cabrera is trying to open another front against the policy by leading the effort to repeal the policy through the legislative process.  Mayor Michael Bloomberg directs the NYC Department of Education, and fully supports the policy banning private worship services from the schools.  The City Council lacks the authority to change the policy directly, but it does have the power to ask the state legislature to change the state statute that provides Mayor Bloomberg the legal authority to ban the religious activities.  These resolutions passed by the City Council carry significant weight at the state legislature in Albany, and usually spurs it to action.

Councilman Cabrera attempted to have the City Council pass this resolution in early 2012, but was blocked by the Speaker of the City Council, Christine Quinn.  Speaker Quinn, who is running for mayor, has expressed support for the policy banning worship services.  According to the Wall Street Journal, Speaker Quinn’s tight control of the City Council has loosened in recent months because of her run for mayor.  The Wall Street Journal also reports that Councilman Cabrera sensed an opportunity to move the stalled resolution, and Speaker Quinn agreed to allow the resolution to come to a vote on May 22.

Councilman Cabrera expects the City Council to pass the resolution.  Whether the New York Legislature will pass the necessary legislation to overturn the New York City anti-worship service policy is unclear.  In early 2012, the New York Senate passed such legislation, only to see it die in the Assembly because the Speaker of the Assembly, Sheldon Silver, refused to allow the bill to come to a vote.  The Senate bill would have likely passed in the Assembly, because a majority of the Assembly’s members had signed on as co-sponsors of the bill.  Speaker Silver may respond differently to the proposed legislation and allow Assembly members to vote on it, if the legislation is in response to a resolution passed by the influential New York City Council.

New York City remains the only major school district in the United States that prohibits private religious services in public school buildings during non-school hours.  The churches and other religious groups meeting in the NYC schools help some of the poorest and neediest people in the city.  Whether by a court order, or a law passed by the New York Legislature, it is time for this policy to go.

Major General Douglas Carver, Retired U.S. Army Chief of Chaplains, tells stories of individual people he came into contact with while serving.

Watch & Listen >> http://alln.cc/XNcYfS
Protect and promote the rights of our churches.

“Speaking via video link to the Oslo Conference on Human Rights on April 15, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon announced that he is launching an international campaign to elevate the demands of sexually confused individuals over the rights of other individuals.”

Benjamin Bull’s column looks at the U.N. Secretary-General’s pledge to put the fight for special rights for some groups—sexually identified—over religious concerns. Read the entire post here.