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Doing Good Things? Pay Taxes Anyway

President Trump: “I will get rid of and totally destroy the Johnson Amendment and allow our representatives of faith to speak freely and without fear of retribution.”

Well, OK, but … Gee.

“Totally destroy?”

What’s he gonna do? Fire nuclear weapons at the Internal Revenue Service office that is in charge of enforcing the Johnson Amendment?

I shake my head at our President.

I am as mystified at his nastiness as I am at the rigidity of his hairdo.

But on this issue, I concur with our President: He is half-right.

Yes, let’s get rid of the rule, instituted by then-Sen. Lyndon Johnson of Texas before he became President Johnson.

The New York Times explains the Johnson Amendment this way: “Under the provision, which was made in 1954, tax-exempt entities like churches and charitable organizations are unable to directly or indirectly participate in any political campaign on behalf of, or in opposition to, any candidate. Specifically, ministers are restricted from endorsing or opposing candidates from the pulpit. If they do, they risk losing their tax-exempt status.”

So this Libertarian comes down squarely on the side of free speech — except that there is no free speech, just as there is no free lunch.

Yes, let’s let ministers endorse candidates and engage in electioneering from the pulpit — just as soon as they pay taxes on all of their compensation, including salaries and the goodies they get from congregation members.

Let’s let churches put up endorsements on their exterior bulletin boards — just as soon as the churches pay taxes to counties and cities/boroughs/townships that provide services that are essential to churches.

The exemption from taxes for churches is hogwash.

Who said so?

Try Mark 12:17, and other synoptic Gospels: “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.”

The speech is, of course, attributed to Jesus Christ.

Yet we continue the Colonial “establishment of religion” practice that is specifically forbidden by the First Amendment. We exempt clergy from paying taxes. We exempt churches from paying taxes.

Why?

“Well, they do good things!”

Hey, so do old, retired journalists. I feed chickens. I even feed cats, though I dislike cats. But I have to pay taxes.

Way back in Colonial times, the people in government and the people in church leadership positions were pretty much one and the same. Government “established” religion. It encouraged religion, which can be a good thing. Then it compelled religious observances and attendances, which is a bad thing. And then it went too far, requiring citizens to pay money to support this or that specific denomination.

So the Founding Fathers wrote into the Bill of Rights a prohibition: Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion.

The Johnson Amendment clearly makes a law “respecting” an establishment of religion.

Again, why?

Because we have always done things that way?

For a century and more, some Americans justified slavery because it had existed since before they were born; we had always done things that way.

President Trump is correct: The Johnson Amendment must be erased, though it is overkill to claim it should be “totally destroyed.”

The other shoe should drop as well.

Churches and those who work in churches should pay taxes on incomes and property, because churches and those who work in churches benefit from government services.

Jesus said so, if you accept the authenticity of the Bible.

That’s good enough for me.

We all know, or have heard about, the mega-preachers of the mega-churches who have accumulated mega-dollars without paying their fair share of the costs of plowing our roads, providing our police, etc.

I would make an exception to the concept that everybody must pay local property taxes, and that is school property taxes which chew up about three-quarters of the total property tax bill.

In the first place, we should not pay for schools through taxes on property. We should tax income — earned and unearned — to pay for schools. The services provided by schools have almost nothing to do with the existence of the buildings in which we live or work. One house can produce no local school students, or 10 local school students.

But the number of buildings, including churches and hospitals, within a community does have something to do with the costs of fire protection, police protection, sewers and road repairs.

So I agree with President Trump: Churches should be allowed to endorse candidates or oppose candidates.

Just pay taxes, and enjoy the First Amendment.

That’s what the rest of us do.

“Render unto Caesar….”

Yep.

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Denny Bonavita is a former editor at newspapers in DuBois and Warren. He lives near Brookville. Email: denny2319@windstream.net.

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