The Johnson Amendment: Rest in peace?

Just prior to Thanksgiving, arguments were heard in a Texas federal courtroom on a legal case that will, in all probability, have far-reaching ramifications on how churches and people of faith engage in future public political debate in American life.

The legal shorthand title of this volatile and important case is National Religious Broadcasters v. Long. The full title is:

National Religious Broadcasters, et al.
Plaintiffs
v.
Billy Long, in his official capacity as
Commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service et al.
Defendants

         Joint Motion for Entry of Consent
Judgment

In effect, this case represents an agreement between the Internal Revenue Service and the National Religious Broadcasters Association (representing thousands of pastors and religious broadcasters) that the Johnson Amendment unconstitutionally proscribes Americans' constitutional First Amendment freedoms of speech and religion.

What is the “Johnson Amendment?” It was language added to the tax code in 1954 while Senator Lyndon Johnson was Senate Majority Leader. Senator Johnson was in the midst of a really ugly re-election campaign in which a prominent fundamentalist preacher was stridently attacking Johnson.

The Johnson Amendment forbids all tax-exempt organizations, like churches and charities, from “directly or indirectly” engaging in politics, specifically by endorsing or opposing candidates. Ever since then, the Johnson Amendment has been used to try to intimidate churches and religious organizations from endorsing candidates by threatening their tax-exempt status.

In reality, the government’s “bark has been worse than its bite,” with very few churches ever being formally threatened. However, it has had an impact by intimidating many churches and religious organizations from participating in the political and moral dialogue of the nation’s elective life for less than they otherwise would have done.

As someone who has led and urged churches to participate actively in moral and ethical issues that have been part and parcel of American elective politics over the last half-century, I can bear witness that the Johnson Amendment has been used by many Christians as an excuse for not taking a stand on controversial issues like abortion. When people want their pastors and church leaders to speak up on these issues, too often the reply has been, “We could lose our tax exemption!”

It is likely that this case will go all the way to the Supreme Court, and it is very likely that this present Supreme Court will jettison the Johnson Amendment before our next presidential election, in spite of implacable opposition from groups like the Americans United for Separation of Church and State.

Then what should Christian leaders and churches do? I don’t believe churches should endorse political candidates. Why? The church is a holy institution, “the Bride of Christ.” Political Parties are exceedingly human institutions organized by groups of people to try to win elections and thus exercise power. If the church identifies too closely with any political party, a political candidate could end up damaging the church’s reputation when they fall into immorality.

The church should apply biblical truth to all relevant issues of the day, whether it is abortion, euthanasia, birth control, war, peace, poverty, criminal justice, the environment, immigration, etc.  The church and its leaders should also make sure that those under their pastoral care are aware of where the various candidates for office are on the relevant moral issues of the day.

Then, they should leave it to their church members to connect the dots and vote for the candidates operating from a Judeo-Christian worldview.

Oh, by the way, the government should just make sure that everybody plays by the same rules.  In other words, the government should be an umpire in elections, calling balls and strikes fairly, but not being a coach or sponsor for one side or the other.

People of faith should not be endorsing candidates.  They should be looking for candidates who endorse them and their beliefs.