The Johnson Amendment is a provision in the U.S. tax code, since 1954, that prohibits all 501(c)(3) non-profit organizations from endorsing or opposing political candidates. Section 501(c)(3) organizations are the most common type of nonprofit organization in the United States, ranging from charitable foundations to universities and churches. 501(c)(3) tax-exemptions apply to entities that are organized and operated exclusively for religious, charitable, scientific, literary, or educational purposes, or for testing for public safety, or to foster national or international amateur sports competition, or for the prevention of cruelty to children, women, or animals.

The Religious Right hates that amendment because they say it violates their freedom of speech, and they’ve been trying to get it repealed for years. Trump said during his campaign that he would do just that if elected. Trump won a lot of evangelical Christian support in part because he perpetuated this idea that pastors were being muzzled with the Johnson Amendment.

American Pastors Network President Sam Rohrer appeared on The Dove TV’s “Focus Today” program to talk about the Religious Right’s effort to repeal the Johnson Amendment and he pointed out that any pastor has the right to talk about his political orientation. The only point of the Johnson Amendment is that churches as organizations aren’t allowed to endorse any political candidate.

“At the end of the day, I do not believe that [the Johnson Amendment] has been the reason for silent pulpits in America,” Rohrer said. “It is not the real reason. Because, in reality, any pastor who knew what the provision were knew that they, as a pastor, never lost their First Amendment right. Any pastor always, even according to the Johnson Amendment, could stand up and say, ‘I am personally supporting candidate X.’ What the only provision was that the organization, as a church, could not say, ‘We, as a church, endorse such and such a candidate’ or use the church facilities or the church copiers or the meetings room for a particular candidate. That’s all it was. So, in reality, the pastor himself was never muzzled on his ability to say what he wanted to say.”

The reason why the Religious Right is trying to abolish the amendment is that churches could influence the political attitude of their believers without financial consequences. By the Johnson Amendment repealing, the separation of church and state would be violated.

Photo Credits: The Friendly Atheist