Keep government out… of the church!

Lots of hot air rising in our state right now about keeping the government out of our lives. There are some places that ought to be sacred, wouldn't you agree?  Oh, I bet half of you are thinking one of those places is the womb. Nope. The government has a vested interest in protecting the rights of those even in the womb. In fact, the first and primary purpose of government is to protect human life. Thomas Jefferson said so.

Here's what I was referring to - the IRS has no business helping me craft my sermons every Sunday. It's unconstitutional for the IRS to issue a benefit in exchange for a certain kind of speech. That violates two constitutional foundations, freedom of speech and the free exercise of religion clause. Other non-profits like labor unions and civic leagues can say whatever they want about candidates, only the church gets muted (since 1954 and the Johnson Amendment).

One of my friends was a high up lawyer in Democratic Party presidential politics in New York and DC in the early 70's before he became a Christian. He likes to tell the story of an experiment from his high school days where he had a tray of water in front of him. The experiment was with electricity and to note the movement of ions toward the negative or positive poll on either side of the tray. When the positive poll was removed, the ions quickly gravitated toward the negative poll. The church is that positive poll in society and it has been since our nation's inception. Only revisionist historians say otherwise. It's indisputable. As it's indiputable the negative direction society takes when the moral voices are muted.

I thought you'd enjoy Alan Sears of the Alliance Defense Fund in this article When Government Gets A Hold of Our Churches. Please take time to read it before you barrage me with how churches should just pay taxes then. Churches don't make profit at the end of the year, they give it away (so there is no income to tax). The reason tithes and offerings have never been taxable in America's history is because that money is used to benefit society. The benefit of churches to society is enormous and incalcuable.

I'm not one who advocates theocracy so don't jump to that conclusion. I'm fully committed to democracy as the best form of human government on earth.  But democracy only works when all the voices get to participate in the process.

And please spare me the tired "separation of church and state" nonsense. Read the Constitution, it's not there. It's a phrase that has been hi-jacked from its context and original purpose and meaning. And it's impossible to separate one from what they believe and therefore everyone, even secularists bring their religious worldviews with them into public office.

People sometimes tell me I'm imposing my religion on others. Here's what I'm doing, I'm fiercely holding on to what has been important since our nation's foundation. Secularists are the new ones on the scene trying, quite successfully, to change our national course.