Churches Being Sued is a Good Thing

Churches evoking him in politics will need a lawyer--and Jesus probably wouldn't sympathize!

Earlier this year, the Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF) sued the Internal Revenue Service for giving churches preferential treatment in tax-exemption cases. The FFRF claims that numerous churches and synagogues, especially those aligned with the political right, engage in direct partisan political behavior expressly forbidden in the tax code. It has argued, more broadly, that no religious groups should be tax exempt, though it’s unlikely to win on those grounds given that the Supreme Court ruled in favor of those exemptions in the 1970 case of Walz v. Tax Commissioner of New York.

Religious groups have publicly downplayed the FFRF suit, charging (only partially correctly) that the FFRF is a frivolous lobby group for embittered atheists. Privately religious groups are quaking in their collective ritual raiment as the FFRF has won as many suits as it has lost. A 1972 Supreme Court ruling agreed that direct politicking could result in losing tax-exempt status. The FFRF successfully sued Jimmy Lee Swaggart in 1991, and Jerry Falwell in 1993. Both paid fines and agreed to back off; Falwell had to retroactively pay taxes for the two years (1986-87) in which he was not in compliance. In 1995, courts removed the tax exemption of a Binghamton, New York church that told members not to vote for Bill Clinton. Several Wisconsin religious groups are battling suits brought against them relating to the 2012 election, and smart money is that they will lose. Nationwide some 1500 churches face potential action for defying IRS codes and rallying against Barack Obama’s reelection effort.

Religious organizations are exempt from property taxes and other IRS levies if they qualify as 501 (c) (3) groups.  These, quoting from the IRS codes, are:

Organized and operated exclusively for religious, charitable, scientific, testing for public safety, literary, or educational purposes, or to foster national or international sports competition... or for the prevention of cruelty to animals, no part of the net earnings of which inures to the benefit of any private shareholder or individual, no substantial part of the activities of which is carrying on propaganda, or otherwise attempting, to influence legislation (except as otherwise provided in subsection (h)), and which does not participate in. or intervene in (including or distributing of statements), any political campaign on behalf of (or in opposition to) any candidate for public office.

It really doesn’t matter if you think this is fair, or if you fall prey to the ridiculous “war on religion” rhetoric of the red-meat right; the IRS code is pretty darn clear on the boundaries, and religious groups that violate them have little more legal standing than the nut jobs that unilaterally declare personal income taxes unconstitutional. (An absurdity given that an amendment, the 16^th, expressly makes it constitutional!)

I take the iconoclastic position that rigorous enforcement of 501 (c) (3) standards could be the best thing to happen for organized religion in decades. It might get churches out of politics and back into the personal morality business. Too many within the Judeo-Christian tradition that makes up the American religious majority have erred in seeking to advance private moral agendas within the public sphere. The Bible says surprisingly little about politics, with a passage from Romans 13 coming closest to consensus view: “Let every person be subject to the governing authorities.” When the Pharisees sought to trick Jesus on the issue of taxes and civil authority, he famously picked up a coin and told them to “render unto Caesar all that is Caesar’s.” Neither his mission nor that of Old Testament prophets was political in our modern understanding of partisanship–a way of saying that those who think God is an alternative spelling of G.O.P. trudge the borders of blasphemy.

I am not a member of the FFRF, nor do I ascribe to the Marxist view that religion is (always) the opiate of the masses. It can, in some circumstances, be a force of good for both individuals and society. Even Benjamin Franklin, a Deist, believed that. Good generally happens when religious groups seek to convert individuals, not force-feed views upon the unwilling or the uninterested. When the latter happens we get nightmares such as the Crusades, the Inquisition, wars of religion, pogroms, and the bombing of abortion clinics. By contrast, deeply religious individuals made up both the antebellum abolitionist movement and the post-World War II civil rights movement. Although their actions ultimately resulted in political change, their method of bringing it about was moral, not electoral.

If we look at some of the issues that divide Americans today–abortion, gay marriage, sex education, school prayer–one could conclude that religious politics have fared worse than moral suasion. Churches and synagogues report 40% capacity for weekly services; surveys reveal it’s half of that. Take a look at Pew and Gallup polls. In 1948, 69% of Americans said they were Protestants–the variety of Christianity favored by evangelicals; in 2013, just 48% are Protestants. Is immigration the culprit? Not entirely. In 1957, 7% of Americans said that religion was “old-fashioned” or “outmoded;” 53 years later, 29% felt this to be the case. In 1972, just 7% of those under 30 identified with no religious group. This number ought to induce worry–by 2013, one third of those under 30 expressed no affiliation with any organized religious body. This +400% drop off among the young corresponds with the period of the culture wars. It looks as if the harder religious groups wage those battles, the less people are prone to listen.

Zealots say they are the righteous vanguard, bastions of grace and sanity in a fallen world. As comforting as it may be to believe such things, declining interest in religion might have more to do with boorish behavior and empty sanctimony than decaying morals. The attempt to ramrod religious agendas down people’s throats runs counter to the ideals of American individualism. It’s time for faith-based groups to get out of politics and back into the persuasion game. Call it an “ask, but don’t tell” policy. It may be the only way to win converts and protect assets.