Episode 5 - Taxing Non-Prophets

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On this episode of Faithful Politics, Will and Josh discuss the Johnson Amendment. The repeal of this law was brought up a number of times by President Trump in early 2017 because he argued it hindered freedom of speech for the religious community. The Johnson Amendment is a provision in the U.S. tax code, since 1954, that prohibits all 501(c)(3) non-profit organizations (to include religious) from endorsing or opposing political candidates. Josh gets into the significance of the law, the biblical perspective on taxes, especially as it pertains to religious institutions. Will discusses some possible motivations for why Trump wanted to repeal it, and advocates that the law be left alone for fear of increasing the integrity and fairness of our elections.
**One correction** - Will incorrectly stated that Lyndon Johnson (democrat) was acting as president in 1954, when the bill passed. It was actually Dwight D. Eisenhower, a Republican.
Sources used in the discussion:

• https://www.natlawreview.com/article/president-trump-signs-johnson-amendment-executive-order-limiting-treasury-s-actions
• https://nccs.urban.org/publication/nonprofit-sector-brief-2018#the-nonprofit-sector-in-brief-2018-public-charites-giving-and-volunteering
• https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1151341
• https://www.memphis.edu/law/documents/goldfeder_and_terry_torepealornotrepeal.pdf

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