Church and state must remain separate. -- Pug Mahoney
For many years, federal law has prohibited churches from talking politics at the risk of losing their tax-exempt status.
Now, President Trump wants to "totally destroy" the ruling, enabling political talk to come from pulpits around the country. The law known as the Johnson Amendment, named after Lyndon Johnson, its sponsor, says religious groups can lose their tax breaks if they take an active part in political discussions.
The president made his comment at the annual Prayer Breakfast in Washington, showing support for activist evangelicals and other groups pushing their religious agenda in the political arena.
If the proposal succeeds, churches could then lose their tax-exempt status. But with the enormous real estate holding by many churches, that would be a severe economic and financial blow.
Unless Trump's plan is to free churches to speak freely about politics while retaining the benefits of not paying real estate and other taxes.
You can't have it both ways, guys. If you want to talk politics from the pulpit, you should pay taxes like the rest of us.
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