Credo in Deum Posted August 14, 2014 Share Posted August 14, 2014 (edited) Looks like things are getting worse. The Freedom From Religion Foundation is using the IRS to censor speech in the pulpit. This is not an attempt to drive Christianity from the pubic square through bullying. It is a direct mis-use of government power to silence free speech among a whole class of citizens because another group of citizens does not like what they are saying. The IRS is going to “monitor†churches to see if the clergy talks about anything more pertinent to our daily lives than, say, Isaac blessing Jacob instead of Esau, for the purpose of hauling them up before the Man. It is as simple as that. http://www.patheos.com/blogs/publiccatholic/2014/08/free-speech-is-a-civil-right-irs-and-the-freedom-from-religion-foundation-disagree/ http://www.thenewamerican.com/usnews/constitution/item/18793-irs-agrees-to-atheist-group-s-demands-to-monitor-sermons Edited August 14, 2014 by Credo in Deum Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhuturePriest Posted August 14, 2014 Share Posted August 14, 2014 Bring on the persecution. I like the thought of wearing a beautiful crown for all eternity. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Credo in Deum Posted August 14, 2014 Author Share Posted August 14, 2014 Bring on the persecution. I like the thought of wearing a beautiful crown for all eternity. My priest said the same thing in his sermon when he addressed this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4588686 Posted August 14, 2014 Share Posted August 14, 2014 How is this persecution? 501(c)3s get tax exemptions in exchange for circumscribing their political activity. This requirement applies to all 501(c)3s. Why should Churches get to take the financial benefits of being a 501(c)3 while not actually complying with the law? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Starets Posted August 14, 2014 Share Posted August 14, 2014 Its an escalation of their bullying tactics. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4588686 Posted August 14, 2014 Share Posted August 14, 2014 Its an escalation of their bullying tactics. How so? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4588686 Posted August 14, 2014 Share Posted August 14, 2014 I will say that I used to work for an organization (a leftist, progressive, secular organization) with a c3 component and we had to be extremely diligent with the activities that our c3 engaged in. Everything had to be run by our general council. Churches, on the other hand, have been brazenly flouting this requirement for a long time (that applies to Democratic/progressive Churches as well). They need to either get serious about making Churches comply with the c3 requirements or just get rid of the exemption altogether. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
veritasluxmea Posted August 14, 2014 Share Posted August 14, 2014 How is this persecution? 501(c)3s get tax exemptions in exchange for circumscribing their political activity. This requirement applies to all 501(c)3s. Why should Churches get to take the financial benefits of being a 501(c)3 while not actually complying with the law? Sorry but Catholic in church can talk about political activity, whether in a lecture or in private, and still be a non-profit group. The Humane Society, for example, is a non-profit that does a lot of lobbying and political stuff for animals. We usually can't get our act together to lobby half the time, at least let us dish it out in church in peace. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhuturePriest Posted August 14, 2014 Share Posted August 14, 2014 (edited) My priest said the same thing in his sermon when he addressed this. Bonus. That sermon wasn't being monitored, was it? I don't think the IRS would take kindly to wording like that. Edited August 14, 2014 by FetusPriest387 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lil Red Posted August 14, 2014 Share Posted August 14, 2014 just get rid of the exemption altogether. yup. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhuturePriest Posted August 14, 2014 Share Posted August 14, 2014 At least Freedom from Religion was nice and cuddly in their description of how it's going to work: "The IRS has now resolved the signature authority issue necessary to initiate church examinations. The IRS also has adopted procedures for reviewing, evaluating and determining whether to initiate church investigations. While the IRS retains "prosecutorial" discretion with regard to any individual case, the IRS no longer has a blanket policy or practice of non-enforcement of political activity restrictions as to churches. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Credo in Deum Posted August 14, 2014 Author Share Posted August 14, 2014 (edited) Here are the IRS links for Exemption Requirements - 501(c)(3) Organizations: http://www.irs.gov/Charities-&-Non-Profits/Charitable-Organizations/Exemption-Requirements-Section-501(c)(3)-Organizations http://www.irs.gov/Charities-&-Non-Profits/Charitable-Organizations/Political-and-Lobbying-Activities The threat of persecution comes from the IRS's already horrible reputation of over extending their reach. It is not unreasonable to think they will over extend their reach again, especially since Pro-Life and religious groups have already been targets of their unjust attacks. Edited August 14, 2014 by Credo in Deum Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
truthfinder Posted August 14, 2014 Share Posted August 14, 2014 Well, the only hope is if they start listening in on sermons they might actually learn something. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blazeingstar Posted August 14, 2014 Share Posted August 14, 2014 While this *may* be used to target Catholics this is really meant to target a lot of the athesitc and ungodly hate churches like Westborough Baptist Church. That said, it can't hurt in the northeast. Maybe some of our liberal, churches were ushers wear Obama buttons would finally be shut down. Good riddance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhuturePriest Posted August 14, 2014 Share Posted August 14, 2014 My priest said the same thing in his sermon when he addressed this. Am I the only one who finds it ironic that this came out on the feast day of Saint Maximilian Kolbe? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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