God reportedly hates liars. So says
the Holy Bible. And His Ninth Commandment specifically prohibits bearing false
witness. So one would not expect a member of the clergy to lie, mislead, or
obfuscate the truth, right?
Wrong. Lying, misleading and
obfuscating the truth occur routinely when clergy talk about the IRS denying
them their First Amendment rights.
I witnessed a bishop on Fox News Channel
today who claimed
that the IRS is coming after churches to take away their freedom of speech. The
IRS will come after us if we preach politics from the pulpit, he whined. The
government won’t let us tell our congregations what candidates to vote for. If
we do they’ll come after us, he added.
This bishop of the church knows that’s
not the truth. He knows that the IRS has no power to deny churches and clergy
their fundamental right to free speech and free exercise of their religion as
protected by the First Amendment.
The U.S. government may not deny
churches and clergy the right to preach about anything they want, including
politics, what political candidates to vote for, and what political issues to
support or oppose. No government agent will “come after” him or his church if
he preaches politics from the pulpit.
So what he said to the millions of
people in the TV audience was flatly untrue.
He enjoys a constitutional right to
preach politics just exactly the same as any other individual or group of
individuals in the United States of America. That’s the whole truth. The church, clergy and
this bishop know for certain then that the issue is not about First Amendment
rights.
No, it’s about paying taxes.
The Constitution affirms their right
to preach politics but there is nothing in the Constitution that gives them a
right to enjoy tax exempt status. The bishop didn’t want to talk about that and
consequently the subject was never brought up. He wants us to believe it’s all about
freedom of speech – and nothing to do with taxes.
I pay my taxes. You pay your taxes.
Every American pays taxes, except that some individuals, non-profit and
religious organizations, including clergy, enjoy tax exempt status by federal
statute. We the people decided that they should enjoy that status because of
the so-called selfless benefits they provide to society by their activities.
But the law also specifies that if
they engage overtly in poetical activities, such as telling their members who
to vote for in elections and the like, then they are not entitled to tax exempt
status. If they want to engage in politics they have to pay their taxes just
like everyone else.
In short, We the People decided that
Churches and clergy should best stick to preaching religion to their
congregations and refrain from preaching politics from the pulpit if they want
to continue to enjoy their generous exemption from paying the tax man. It’s not that they can’t preach politics. Of
course they can. That’s their First Amendment Constitutional right. But if they
do they’ll have to start paying tax like the rest of us tax slaves.
That’s the truth.
The bishop violated God’s ninth
commandment.
Speech is either free or it isn't. If you can't say certain things unless you pay taxes, then it isn't free. If you can't say certain things, or you'll face fines from the FCC, then it isn't free. If you can't say certain things because it might offend somebody and you'll subsequently be arrested for hate, then it isn't free.
ReplyDeleteThe Constitution is very specific: "Congress shall make no law ..." To say that exclusion does not include the levying of taxes, or the use of the electromagnetic spectrum, or limiting speech that includes political messages, or commercial messages, or offensive messages, is simply obfuscating.
They can say whatever they want to say and no one can stop them. And they should pay taxes like the rest of us too. The fact that I can't get tax exempt status amount to a denial of equal protection of the law.
DeleteThen the issue isn't that they don't pay taxes, it's that you do. Is the only reason you get free political speech because you pay taxes?
DeleteA libertarian shouldn't begrudge somebody else because their taxes are lower than his. He should begrudge that his taxes are too high (which I think would mean anything above zero). Zero taxes should be celebrated by libertarians, even if it's for some fantasy called religion.
The solution to one person's too high taxes is not to raise the taxes of some other person with lower taxes (or no taxes). You can not like religions, but using taxes as a weapon against religions makes a libertarian look like a hypocrite.
Either you're for less statism or you aren't.
No, the issue is whether they have First Amendment rights and the answer is yes whether or not they pay taxes. They have no constitutional right to tax exempt status. What We the People giveth, We the People can taketh away.
DeleteNow who's the authority?
DeleteIf you read my book you would know that you are your own Authority!
Delete