Trump sets Bible-thumping deplorables up for legal problems
Today, Trump will be signing another of his fascistic edicts executive orders curtailing the “Johnson Amendment” – a provision in the tax code that specifically prohibits all 501(c)(3) non-profits, including religious organizations and churches, from setting public statements that endorse or oppose political candidates.
The completely understandable immediate reaction of progressives is to see this as another attack on the wall between rapture cult Confederate “Christianity” church and state. But, as the strategically savvy analysts at Think Progress point out, Trump may be setting up a whole lot of arrogantly “righteous” reactionary Christianists for a Wile-E.-Coyote-style “blow up in your face” moment. As Admiral Ackbar said,
[C]hurches [] may be lulled into violating the law by Trump’s order — only to discover that they are still quite vulnerable to legal consequences. …
[T]here’s a real danger for pastors who take Trump’s executive order as a license to violate their 501(c)(3) status. Trump cannot repeal the restrictions that come with such status — only Congress can do that. And all that he purports to be doing here is instructing the IRS to not enforce the law against pastors who violate the tax code in a certain way.
That’s great for those pastors — so long as Donald Trump is still president — but nothing stops the IRS from bringing new enforcement actions the instant Trump leaves the White House and his executive order is rescinded.
In trying to help his political allies, in other words, Trump may lead them into a trap. His order will give them a false sense that they are free to violate the law, but the law hasn’t been changed at all. And enforcement of the law may only be delayed.
And who’s to say that some IRS administrators might not act against scofflaw churches even with Trump in office? After all, there’s a big deficit to close…
