After decades of government muzzling churches and threatening their tax-exempt status, the IRS just admitted what many of us have known all along: churches can now endorse political candidates to their own congregations, and the government can’t do a thing about it.
At a Glance
- The IRS has declared that the Johnson Amendment does not apply when churches address their own members about political candidates.
- This shift follows a high-profile lawsuit by Texas churches and the National Religious Broadcasters Association.
- Religious organizations can now endorse or oppose candidates internally without risking tax-exempt status.
- Advocacy groups warn this move could erode the separation of church and state and open the floodgates to political activity in religious spaces.
IRS Caves: Churches Free to Speak—But Only to Their Flocks?
For seventy years, the Johnson Amendment has been the federal government’s favorite tool for keeping religious Americans in their place. Since 1954, churches and other 501(c)(3) organizations have been forced to tiptoe around anything political, under threat of losing their tax-exempt status if they dared speak up about the candidates driving our country off a cliff. Now, after years of lawsuits and lobbying—plus a reality check from a federal lawsuit out of Texas—the IRS has finally blinked. In a July 7 court filing, the agency admitted that the Johnson Amendment’s ban on political campaigning “does not apply” when faith leaders speak to their own congregations. Translation: If your church wants to tell you the truth about which candidates stand up for faith, family, and the Constitution, it’s finally open season.
Let’s not kid ourselves—this isn’t some magnanimous gesture from the IRS. This is the result of relentless pressure from religious organizations and a legal system that’s finally starting to remember what the First Amendment is supposed to mean. Two Texas churches and the National Religious Broadcasters Association sued, claiming their right to speak freely was being trampled. The IRS, cornered by the truth, has been forced to admit it never really had the power to police what pastors say to their own flock. But of course, the “experts” and advocacy groups are already clutching their pearls, warning that church-state separation is under siege. If only they’d show a sliver of that concern when it’s the Constitution that’s on the chopping block.
The Battle Lines: Who’s Really Afraid of Free Speech?
The folks most upset by this? The same organizations that treat “separation of church and state” as a magic spell to keep Christians silent while the country slides into chaos. Americans United for Separation of Church and State, for one, has called the IRS’s move a violation of “longstanding constitutional principles.” Their fear? That pastors, priests, and rabbis might actually inform their members which politicians are actively shredding the Constitution, eroding families, and opening the border to anyone with a sob story.
Let’s call this what it is: an overdue correction. For years, churches have been threatened with audits and investigations for daring to speak about the values this country was built on. Meanwhile, leftist nonprofits, universities, and activist groups have a free pass to campaign, organize, and funnel money to their favorite candidates. The IRS’s new position doesn’t just level the playing field—it finally acknowledges that religious Americans have the same right to speak as anyone else. If you’re worried about churches becoming “too political,” maybe you haven’t noticed the political sermonizing coming from every other tax-exempt institution in America.
What Happens Next: More Freedom, More Outrage, and More Common Sense
Now that the IRS has admitted the obvious, expect a tsunami of outrage from the people who think religious Americans shouldn’t be trusted with a voice. Advocacy groups are already plotting their next lawsuits, vowing to “protect the integrity of the political process”—as if there’s any integrity left after years of backroom deals, activist judges, and taxpayer-funded bailouts for every left-wing cause under the sun. But let’s be clear: religious organizations are not, and never have been, the threat. The real danger is a government that thinks it can decide who gets to speak and who has to sit down and shut up.
For families who are sick of seeing their faith sidelined, their values mocked, and their freedoms eroded, this ruling is a breath of fresh air. It means churches can finally tell the truth about what’s at stake in every election, mobilize their communities, and stand up for the Constitution without looking over their shoulder for an IRS audit. Yes, the “experts” will keep howling about church-state separation, but maybe it’s time they start worrying more about government overreach, open borders, and the billions wasted on programs that do nothing but empower bureaucrats and weaken American families.
