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Archive for the ‘Freedom of Religion’ Category

The title is from today’s Omega Letter, written by Jack Kinsella.

The Internal Revenue Service has launched an investigation/crackdown on Christian ministers and ministries that the IRS believes is in violation of the rules governing 501 (c) (3) religious tax exemptions.

In the main, the investigations are aimed at determining if a minister or ministry has made any political statements that violated IRS rules.

The IRS crackdown came following a special IRS task force investigation that concluded that as many as three-quarters of Christian ministries violated federal tax laws governing 501 (c) (3) religious charitable exemption status during the 2004 general election.

This time around, the IRS is taking a pro-active approach, targeting any Christian ministry that dares to express a political opinion, particularly those who express an opinion regarding Barack Obama or his relationship with Trinity United Church.

I’m not going to name the ministries now under investigation (they’ve already got enough to worry about) but I will say that among those now under IRS scrutiny is one that is nearest and dearest to us here — but it isn’t the OL.

If it seems to you that I am speaking in code, it means you are very perceptive.

Who would have ever believed that the day would come in America where one would have to speak in code about Christianity?

I have preached it for twenty years, but frankly, I never thought I’d live to see it. It came slowly, almost imperceptibly, until POW! — it was here.

The IRS 501 (c)(3) religious tax exemption status is a fairly recent trend dating back to 1954 when Senator Lyndon Baines Johnson added an amendment including ‘religious organizations’ to the tax code. Johnson was taking a lot of fire from church organizations back home at the time.

Johnson presented the amendment as a ‘favor’ to church organizations, but the ‘favor’ came with strings attached. Over time, those strings began to morph into the handcuffs they are today.

For a 501 (c)(3) church to openly speak out, or organize in opposition to, anything that the government declares “legal,” even if it is immoral (e.g. abortion, homosexuality, etc.), that church will jeopardize its tax exempt status.

The 501 (c)(3) serves to not just infringe upon, but to actually abrogate the free speech rights of the church.

To summarize, ever since 1954, churches and religious organizations have been able to claim a religious tax exemption under 501(c)(3) rules.

That begs a question – what about the tax status of religious organizations prior to 1954?

The United States has existed since July 4, 1776. The Internal Revenue Service came into being during the Lincoln administration under the authority of the Revenue Act of 1862.

It was called the “Bureau of Internal Revenue” until 1918, when it began using the name “Internal Revenue Service” on its tax forms. The 501 (c)(3) religious organization tax exemption status was created in 1954.

What was the tax status of churches from 1776 to 1862? Or, for that matter, from 1862 to 1918, or from 1918 to 1954?

It was tax-exempt. Churches and ministries were tax exempt in America since the day the Puritans landed at Plymouth Rock.

The 1st Amendment (the infamous ’separation clause’ clearly places the church outside the jurisdiction of civil government, saying, “Congress shall make NO LAW respecting an establishment of religion, nor prohibiting the free exercise thereof.”

If the Supreme Court can interpret some county courthouse in Kentucky that displays the Ten Commandments as being in violation of the 1st Amendment ‘by Congress’ how is it that tax laws passed by Congress does not?

As noted, the church was tax-exempt BEFORE Johnson tacked on the 501 (c)(3) exemption for churches. Religion cannot be free if you have to pay the government, through taxation, to exercise it.

In order to be governed by IRS rules, churches must place themselves under its jurisdiction. In order to be considered for tax-exempt status by the IRS an organization must fill out and submit IRS Form 1023 and 1024.

Otherwise, churches and religious organizations are ALREADY exempt under the IRS’ own rules. According to IRS Publication 557:

Churches, interchurch organizations of local units of a church, conventions or associations of churches, or integrated auxiliaries of a church, such as a men’s or women’s organization, religious school, mission society, or youth group. These organizations are exempt automatically if they meet the requirements of section 501(c)(3).

Did you catch that? Let’s look at it again. “These organizations are exempt automatically if they meet the requirements of section 501(c)(3).”

But wait! There’s more!

According to IRS Code § 508(c)(1)(A): Special rules with respect to section 501(c)(3) organizations.

(a) New organizations must notify secretary that they are applying for recognition of section 501(c)(3) status.

(c) Exceptions.

(1) Mandatory exceptions. Subsections (a) and (b) shall not apply to—

(A) churches, their integrated auxiliaries, and conventions or associations of churches.

I’m not making this up. Churches are ALREADY exempt! They always were. This is known as the “mandatory exception” rule.

Thus, we see from the IRS’ own publications, and the tax code, that it is completely unnecessary for any church to apply for tax-exempt status.

In the IRS’ own words a church “is automatically tax-exempt.” Not only that, but individual contributions to religious organizations that qualify for 501(c)(3) status are ALSO “automatically tax-exempt” — whether that organization has filed for 501(c)(3) status or not.

Not only is a ministry not REQUIRED to file for a 501 (c)(3) exemption, until it does, it is not under IRS jurisdiction. It is the act of FILING for that exemption that grants the IRS jurisdiction.

If a church does not place ITSELF under IRS authority, neither can the IRS.

We’ve all heard about the tax protestors and “freemen” who refuse to apply for a Social Security number or refuse to file taxes by claiming the Sixteenth Amendment authorizing income taxes was never properly ratified.

This is different. In the case of the church, 1st Amendment trumps the 16th. Whether the 16th Amendment was legally ratified or not is irrelevant.

Congress is constitutionally forbidden from making ANY laws respecting the establishment of religion or the free exercise thereof.

Tax laws are “laws” — and they certainly aren’t ‘free’.

Assessment:

Since churches and religious organizations are already exempt from taxation, why do so many of them voluntarily place themselves under IRS rules? There are several reasons, not the least of which is ignorance.

501(c)(3) organizations can issue a tax receipt which can be deducted from a person’s individual income taxes.

This is a powerful incentive for donors to take money that would otherwise go to the government and redirect it to a ministry.

If a donor gives to a 501(c)(3) organization, he is, in fact, donating the government’s money, rather than his own — the donor doesn’t get to keep it in any case, so why not?

We see how effective the scheme is every day here at the OL. We’ve received a lot of emails over the years from members encouraging us to apply for tax-exempt status so we can issue tax receipts for donations.

We refused 501(c)(3) status from the beginning because it gives the IRS the authority to censor what we can say.

But when we tell prospective donors we cannot issue 501(c)(3) receipts, they tell us, sorrowfully, that they can’t donate unless they can submit tax-deductible receipts with the tax return.

In fact, whether or not a church or church ministry applies for and receives a “501 (c)(3) tax-exempt recognition letter” from the IRS is irrelevant under the law.

Any contributions made to a church are “automatically qualified” as a tax write-off to the contributor, pursuant to IRS Publication 526, and IRS Code § 170(c)(2)(B).

A church does not have to be a “nonprofit charitable organization” to be tax deductible, nor does it need IRS authorization to be tax deductible. According to the IRS, churches have that status “automatically.”

I’m not saying go ahead and donate to the OL because its tax-deductible. It is — but I wouldn’t ask anybody to go toe-to-toe with the IRS over it.

If I am not willing to tackle them head-on, (and I am not) I’m not about to ask you to — increasing donations isn’t the point of today’s OL.

The point is that, via the 501(c)(3) fiction, Christians have exempted themselves from the 1st Amendment guarantees, and consequently, churches are under Congressional oversight and have no free speech protection.

A pastor who speaks out about abortion can be censored. A church that speaks favorably about an anti-abortion candidate can face legal government persecution.

But their rights to the free exercise of religion and freedom of speech have NOT been ‘taken away’ from them.

They SOLD them to the federal government in exchange for tax-free money. The irony is that they sold their freedom in exchange for money that was ALREADY tax-free.

When a church accepts the 501(c)(3) status, that church also:

* Waives its freedom of speech.

* Waives its freedom of religion.

* Waives its right to influence legislators and the legislation they craft.

* Waives its constitutionally guaranteed rights.

* Is no longer free to speak to the vital issues of the day.

* Becomes controlled by a spirit of fear that if it doesn’t toe the line with the IRS it will lose its tax-exempt status.

* Becomes a State-Church.

It is fascinating to me that one of the ministries under investigation for 501(c)(3) violations is under investigation because of comments about Barack Obama’s pastor, Jeremiah Wright’s political statements from the pulpit.

The offending comments were not about Obama, but about the racial politics espoused by Trinity United Church.

The Reverend Jeremiah Wright’s political sermons are now among the most widely-circulated and politically controversial sermons in the land. If ever there were a case of politics masquerading as religion, Jeremiah Wright is its poster child.

But the IRS isn’t going after Jeremiah Wright, Otis Moss, Father Pfleger or Trinity United Church for violating IRS political rules. It is going after Christian pastors who disagree with the merits of the political statements themselves.

So, some minister (who will remain nameless of out fear of further government persecution) that questions whether or not America deserved the attacks of September 11 and dares to mention that it emanated from Obama’s church finds himself a target of the IRS Gestapo.

While the IRS ignores the sermon (and sermonizer) that predicated the disagreement in the first place.

One pulpit is protected, the other is not, based on the arbitrary whims of some government apparatchik. The church’s freedom of speech wasn’t taken from it — the Church sold its freedom — for money.

In His seven letters to the Seven Churches, Jesus outlined characteristics of each that, in hindsight, we can clearly see corresponding to seven distinct epochs within the Church Age, from the Apostolic Church of the first century to the lukewarm Laodicean Church of the last days.

Of all the seven churches, the Church of Laodicea was the ONLY one the Lord singled out for criticism without offering a single word of commendation.

“And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God; I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth. Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked: Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:” (Revelation 3:14-17)

Among 501(c)(3) ministries, fire-breathing sermons about social moral issues, like abortion, homosexuality, the family, divorce, child-rearing, and even doctrinal issues, like salvation through Christ alone, are largely a thing of the past.

Every word has to be weighed against the possibility it may violate one’s tax-exempt status, which would then shut off the donor spigot.

It boils down to a choice between shutting up and shutting down.

“I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.” (Revelation 3:18-19)

The Lord offers this advice to the remaining ‘free churches’ while there is still time:

“He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.” (Revelation 3:22)

My husband and I tithe and give an offering, as do our children and grandchildren. I know my husband well enough to know even if there were no tax exemption we would continue to give the same amount, but if one is a true believer and has not yet committed to tithing he or she may think about tithing since we are talking about 10% of what God gives us. He lets us keep 90% and asks only for 10%.

If you are a believer and haven’t yet had the faith to tithe I encourage you to do so. You will be richly blessed, but don’t do it for what you can get out of it; do it out of love and obedience to our Loving God.

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