By MARSHA MERCER
Before the 2012 election, businessman Donald J. Trump
made wild, false accusations that President Barack Obama was a Muslim and not a
citizen.
So it’s hardly a surprise that candidate Trump
questioned Hillary Clinton’s religious faith.
“We don’t know anything about Hillary in terms of
religion,” Trump told evangelical leaders Tuesday. “She’s been in the public
eye for years and years and yet there’s no – there’s nothing out there.”
That’s ridiculous. Clinton, a church-goer, doesn’t
wear her faith on her sleeve, but she does talk about it.
In January, when a voter in Iowa asked Clinton about
her faith, she began a lengthy response with, “I am a person of faith. I am a
Christian. I am a Methodist. I have been raised Methodist. I feel very grateful
for the instructions and support I received, starting in my family but through
my church…”
Courting evangelical leaders, Trump followed his slam
on Clinton with a pander. He promised to appoint Supreme Court justices who
oppose abortion. In a Trump administration, he said, department store clerks will
say “Merry Christmas” again. And he will end the ban on political campaigning by
tax-exempt churches.
“I think maybe that will be my greatest contribution
to Christianity – and other religions – is to allow you, when you talk religious
liberty, to go and speak openly, and if you like somebody or want somebody to
represent you, you should have the right to do it,” he said.
Trump, who also wants to change the libel laws so he
can sue news outlets, either doesn’t understand the Constitution or has little
regard for it.
The ban against politicking applies to any tax-exempt
charity -- secular nonprofits as well as houses of worship.
Religious leaders can and do endorse candidates – just
not from the pulpit. They also can support ballot measures and take stands for
or against issues. They can run non-partisan voter registration and
get-out-the-vote drives.
Since Thomas Jefferson wrote approvingly on Jan. 1,
1802, that the First Amendment had built “a wall of separation between church
and state,” Americans have been arguing over religion and government.
Conservatives have railed against the politicking ban
for decades, claiming that it limits pastors’ free speech. Rep. Walter B. Jones
Jr., R-N.C., has made repeal his pet issue, but his attempts have gone nowhere.
We have Lyndon B. Johnson to thank -- or blame -- for
the ban. In 1954, the senator from Texas introduced the ban in an amendment to
the IRS Code. The measure was so uncontroversial it passed by unanimous consent,
reflecting agreement that tax-exempt groups should not be overtly partisan.
While historians disagree about Johnson’s motives, it
seems clear he wanted to stop groups – not churches – that were critical of him
as he ran for re-election from sending campaign materials to voters.
Congress has strengthened the ban over time. To
qualify for 501(c)3 tax-exempt status, a church or charity may not “participate
in, or intervene in (including the publishing or distributing of statements),
any political campaign on behalf of (or in opposition to) any candidate for
public office.”
Despite what Trump says, the ban has not stopped
religious leaders from speaking up about their candidates of choice. Several
ministers have endorsed Clinton.
Liberty University President Jerry Falwell Jr., son of
the late televangelist, endorsed Trump last January. But the nonprofit university,
which calls itself the largest Christian university in the world, does not
endorse candidates, Falwell says.
The IRS rarely has revoked a church’s tax-exempt
status, but it did after Church at Pierce Creek in upstate New York took out
full-page ads in USA Today and The Washington Times four days before the 1992
election.
“Christians Beware. Do not put the economy before the
Ten Commandments,” read the headline. The ad urged people not to vote for Bill
Clinton and solicited tax-deductible donations to pay for the ad. A federal appeals
court upheld a lower court’s ruling backing the IRS.
There’s a simple solution for churches and other
tax-exempt groups that want to electioneer, and it has nothing to do with Trump.
They can give up their tax- exempt status.
©2016 Marsha Mercer. All rights reserved.
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