House tax bill would blur lines of church/state separation

This has gotten almost no publicity -- although it made Monday's New York Times' front page.    In 1954, the Johnson amendment was enacted that bans churches and other non-profit groups from engaging in political activity.

The House-passed tax bill repeals that law.  So far, it's not in the Senate bill, but attempts are being made to include it, with voting on the Senate bill just days away.

Since 1954, churches can encourage members to vote;  they can provide information on candidates;  but they cannot actively endorse or campaign for a particular candidate.   The penalty for violations is the organization's loss of tax-exempt status. That would change.

But that's not the only reason the religious right has been pushing for this.  Money is involved.  Big money.

Donations to a church or other nonprofit group are tax deductible;  political contributions are not.   So, instead of giving their political donations to campaigns or Super-PACS, they could donate to these non-profits and take a tax deduction.  The church or non-profit could then turn around and use the fund for political purposes.

Think of it!   Instead of giving $100,000 after-tax dollars to some Republican Super PAC, you give it to the Liberty Church Fund, say.   And you get to deduct $100,000 from your taxes.  Critics are even suggesting that it could lead to "sham churches" set up solely to take advantages of such provisions.

Of course, legally, you could do the same thing by giving it to the ACLU or the Boy Scouts -- or, for that matter, to the Unitarian Church.   But those groups are not going to be doing something shady like that.   Religious right leaders say they are not either.  Politicians say that the bill was narrowly crafted to avoid such tricks.

I'm not willing to take their word for that.   Why is it that mainstream religious groups -- Methodists, Baptists -- as well as sectarian non-profit groups are against repealing this ban, while groups like the conservative Family Research Council and the Traditional Values Coalition are pushing it?

Candidate Donald Trump promised in July 2016 to repeal this ban.  It's one of the ways he has solidified his support among conservative religious groups.   And he's trying to made good on this promise.

So he wants to build a wall to keep Mexicans out;  but he wants to tear down the wall between church and state, one of the foundational concepts of our democracy.

Ralph