Reddit mentions of Politics, Taxes, and the Pulpit: Provocative First Amendment Conflicts

The Alliance Defending Freedom, a conservative legal action organization (the one who is working with the ministers in Houston) has a lot of information on this topic. They are sponsors of the Pulpit Freedom Sunday movement that encourages religious leaders to endorse candidates in their sermons, record the sermon and mail them to the IRS as a means to dare the IRS to enforce the Johnson Amendment and strip the churches of their tax exempt status. The idea is that if the IRS takes action this will give churches standing to challenge what is likely an unconstitutional restriction on ministers free speech rights.

Recently a group of atheist sued the IRS for not enforcing the Johnson Amendment and the IRS agreed to settle the case by working to investigate churches. IRS to Atheists: Okay, We'll Investigate Pulpit Freedom Sunday Pastors
This is likely going to help bring the issue to a head.


This Weekend, Pastors Will Dare the IRS to Revoke Their Churches’ Tax-Exemptions by Talking Politics from the Pulpit


Over 1,800 Pastors Take Part in Pulpit Freedom Sunday


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You might also enjoy Politics, Taxes, and the Pulpit: Provocative First Amendment Conflicts Hardcover – November 3, 2010

>In Politics, Taxes, and the Pulpit, Nina J. Crimm and Laurence H. Winer examine the provocative mix of religion, politics, and taxes involved in the controversy over houses of worship engaging in electoral political speech. The authors analyze the dilemmas associated with federal tax subsidies benefiting nonprofit houses of worship conditioned on their refraining from political campaign speech. The Supreme Court's recent Citizens United decision invalidating federal campaign finance restrictions on corporations' political campaign speech makes the remaining, analogous restrictive tax laws constraining many nonprofit entities all the more singular and problematic, particularly for houses of worship. Crimm and Winer explore the multifaceted constitutional tensions arising from this legal structure and implicating all fundamental values embodied in the First Amendment: free speech and free press, the free exercise of religion, and the avoidance of government establishment of religion. They also examine the history and economics of taxation of houses of worship. The authors conclude that there exists no means of fully resolving the irreconcilable clashes in a constitutionally permissible and politically and socially palatable manner. Nonetheless, Crimm and Winer offer several feasible legislative proposals for reforming tax provisions that likely will generate considerable debate. If Congress adopts the proposed reforms, however, the revised system should substantially ameliorate the disquieting constitutional tensions induced by the current tax laws and curb the growing emotionally charged atmosphere about the role of religion in the public sphere.


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