Trump to weaken IRS rule against church political activity

[Cryptoad]

Source: ap

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump is seeking to further weaken enforcement of an IRS rule barring churches and tax-exempt groups from endorsing political candidates, in a long-anticipated executive order on religious freedom that has disappointed some of his supporters.

As he marks the National Day of Prayer at the White House Thursday, Trump is planning to sign an executive order asking the IRS to use “maximum enforcement discretion” over the regulation, known as Johnson Amendment, which applies to churches and nonprofits.

The order also promises “regulatory relief” for groups with religious objections to the preventive services requirement in the Affordable Care Act, according to a White House official. Those requirements include covering birth control and could apply to religious groups like the Little Sisters of the Poor, who have moral objections to paying for contraception.

The White House did not release the full text of the order, and it was not clear just how the pledges would be carried out. The order, which essentially would make it even less likely that a religious organization would lose its tax-exempt status because of a political endorsement, falls short of what religious conservatives expected from Trump, who won overwhelming support from evangelicals by promising to “protect Christianity” and religious freedom.

Read more: https://apnews.com/b071d04487b94f1bb3614a046159c2e0/Trump-to-weaken-IRS-rule-against-church-political-activity

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I guess they dont believe Jesus meant what He said about not praying in public, much less the Rose Garden!

[MattP]

1. This should be overturned in court based on his statement

[rockfordfile]

13. yes

[TalenaGor]

2. hes destroying America :(

[MADem]

21. Trying....giving the judicial branch a run for its money...nt

[MiniMe]

3. Nobody ever said that they don't have the right to say whatever they want...

They just can't stay tax exempt if they get involved in politics. Another bad exec order.

[elmac]

4. A church a few blocks from me

had their yard plastered with tRump signs the weekend before the election for a few hours before someone took them down. I don't have a smart phone so didn't take a pic. They get away with this all the time anyway.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

5. Make churches pay taxes. Esp. megachurches: They are businesses & their CEOs have planes & Rolexes

Megachurch CEO = self-styled "preacher"

[Freethinker65]

6. Then let him also "relax" their income/property tax exemptions, etc.

[yallerdawg]

7. See you in court, asshole!

Somebody needs to explain to him, this is a Constitutional Republic, not a theocracy? Ok, big words for you - let's just watch you lose in court and potty mouth the judge/judges.

[defacto7]

8. Separation of Church and State...

That's why America exists. How politically and hystorically infantile to not understand the danger of controlling public opinion based on fear of religious retribution or just taking advantage of the human weakness of being an outsider among peers. This is as ancient as humanity itself.
I think freedom cannot exist without a clear separation between the state and religious control.

[rockfordfile]

14. Trump is un-American for coming up with this crap

These far right republicans do hate the USA.

[defacto7]

15. I agree that Trump is un-American for many reasons

but we have to keep in mind that he's just a tool and has no idea what he's doing. Breaking down the separation of church and state radiates from the religious conservative right and sits squarely in the lap of Pense who is a dominionist and second in line to the throne. Our constitution is under threat and the future of our democracy is balanced a thread.

[jmowreader]

16. That's wrong. Trump knows exactly what he's doing.

Trump knows the Religious Right had a lot to do with him getting elected, and he's repaying them (and attempting to keep their votes for 2020, because he also knows they're more than ready to stay home if you cross them) by giving them everything their hearts desire - even things that will damage the rest of America.

[defacto7]

19. You go with that then...

But I think it's a mistake to offer Trump that much credit. Trump will fall when he is no longer needed. He's a photo op junkie. The danger comes from those who empower him because he serves their purpose. We target the source or we only break the decoy.

[Solly Mack]

9. Theocrats should be banished from the face of the earth. All theocrats.

The only reason these assholes complain about Sharia law is because they are jealous and wish they could do the same with their religious beliefs.

Sure, they couch it in fear but it's really only jealousy.

[haele]

10. Sharia Law is Biblical (Levitican) Law.

Very little difference in the actual "law", only in practice.
Public stoning of non-virgin girls and adulteresses for "honor reasons" - check.
Can only marry a virgin girl woman, with the exception of marrying a deceased male family member's wife to honor him and protect his property - check.
Wives and unmarried children are only "chattel" of fathers and husbands, with fewer legal rights and social position than most livestock - check.
(BTW, in both Sharia and Leviticus, if you "pay" the father or husband for the loss of a wife or child due to your actions or from your property, you're off the hook)
Religious dispensation for murdering own "disobedient" children - check.
Sale of one's own children or "unowned" female relatives into slavery or in "marriage" to seal a legal contract - check
Public "Forgiving" of thieves and murderers - even if that forgiving may have been coerced - check.
Eye for an Eye, hand for a theft, public punishments - check.
No Gods above the Big Guy - check
Apostates and Atheists are to be killed, unbelievers to be either avoided or destroyed depending on who's in charge of the location - check.
No "Graven Images" - check.
"Honor" the Prophets (especially the Profits) - check.

Now, there's a lot of Levitican Laws Christians don't follow, because they're "inconvenient" to the comfort of the guys who are claiming they speak for the Biblical God - like pork, shrimp, clothes of mixed fabric strands, lending policies and charity, but the actual differences between Sharia Law and Levitican Law can be listed on a single sheet of wide rule paper by a five-year-old learning their letters.

The Talibornagains and Christianist Dominionists love Sharia law - they love what they see in the Middle East - just don't like the brown guys doing it - for all their blathering about freedom and free markets, they really hate competition. If they had their druthers and can set it up here, they'd call it "Biblical" or "Moral" Law, get rid of any requirements for honest dealing and charity, and make sure there was a "Biblical Court" to handle family matters in every church.

Haele

[Solly Mack]

11. Thank you!

[haele]

12. Great bumper sticker, right?

"Biblical Law is Sharia Law - Levitican Law came first"

Haele

[jmowreader]

18. They quit following Leviticus 11 because better technology made it unnecessary

Here are the animals you are not allowed to eat under a purely Levitical system:

camels
coneys (this is now called the Rock Hyrax)
hares
swine
any animal that has no hooves
any aquatic creature that doesn't have both fins and scales
predatory birds
scavenger birds
bats
all insects but grasshoppers, locusts and beetles
vermin
reptiles and amphibians

All these animals have one thing in common: the potential to fuck you up if you try to eat them.
.

[davsand]

17. The IRS stuff is federal. Property taxes would be a local thing.

Sure would be a bummer to get your pews lined up behind a candidate then find out you are now liable for property taxes on that great big mega-church with cup holders in the sanctuary and a coffee shop in the fellowship hall...

[Cryptoad]

23. Not to mention the

member's multi-story physical fitness gym with the breakfast bar. Yep thats taking care of the poor folks!

btw ACLU call this order a big nuttin burger!

[brooklynite]

20. In all honesty, the IRS wasn't enforcing this rule under President Obama

[MADem]

22. With "relax" must come "TAX."

I've always thought that should be the case, anyway. Why shouldn't churches be political? Let's know them by their opinions! And why shouldn't they be taxed, and their books open to scrutiny and AUDIT?

They are businesses--they're "translators" and "telephone operators" and "conduits" to (insert name of deity/deities here). The delivery of the messages is a separate debate--there are no receipts that prove your plea was delivered--you just gotta believe!