Why does the government have the right to control speach in tax exempt churches?

Why did anyone in this country ever give the IRS such a power? So tax exempt means no right to freedom of speech? Sounds like a slippery slop to me. Explain this please. Doesn't the constitution rule the land, not some IRS law?Why does the government have the right to control speach in tax exempt churches?
lol! The Churches themselves agree to this when they file for the tax exemption. Seems fair to me.





There is a word for questions like yours, ';newspeak.';Why does the government have the right to control speach in tax exempt churches?
Yes, the constitution rules the land, and it is NOT an IRS law that keeps the churches from preaching policy from the pulpit. It Is congress. In exchange for the tax exemption, ';Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954 (Code) grants tax exemption to certain nonprofit organizations ';no substantial part of the activities of which is carrying on propaganda, or otherwise attempting to influence legislation.'; (Regan v. Taxation With Representation, 461 U.S. 540 (1983))





';A definitive court case on the issue of free speech and political expression is Branch Ministries Inc. versus Rossotti. In that case, the court upheld the constitutionality of the ban on political activity. The court rejected the plaintiff church's allegations that it was being selectively prosecuted because of its conservative views and that its First Amendment right to free speech was being infringed.





The court wrote: ';The government has a compelling interest in maintaining the integrity of the tax system and in not subsidizing partisan political activity, and Section 501(c)(3) is the least restrictive means of accomplishing that purpose.'; --IRS website (see below)





The church can very easily give up its tax exempt status if it wants to talk political policy and try to influence the political landscape from the pulpit.





EDIT: The income tax system was established in the 1860's during the civil war (NOT by Wilson in 1913, it was ratified then)


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Income_tax_鈥?/a>
The condition of their tax exemption is that the entity will not be used for certain purposes, such as political machines.


Assembly is one thing, but misguiding people based on their faith and fear of hell is actually dangerous to American Ideals.


It is also unethical to claim to be non-for-profit wile promoting paritisan politics, even though a lot of right-wing think tanks do it.





They give the power to the government when they sign the tax exemption application.


Tax exemption is a privilege not a right, granted under specific conditions.





see page 5


http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p1828.pdf
what it means is since by not being taxed churches are existing as charities. they are allowed to receive money without having to pay taxes on it. charities are not allowed to engage in political activity as they are being 'funded' by the government. if churches were allowed to endorse political candidates that would basically be the government funding one side or the other of a political situation. churches can endorse political candidates if they choose to give up their tax free status. simple as that.
They don't!





The problem is our government has completely ignored our Constitution. Our Constitution was designated a museum relic back in 1913 when Wilson created the Income Tax and the Federal Reserve. It gave direct control of the citizens to the federal government through intimidation.





We the people need to bring back the Constitution one way or another before it's too late.
If a political group hides behind the facade of a religious organization, that organization ceases to be a strictly religious group but a political group.





These groups can speak out but they risk the possibility of losing their tax exempt status. No one is stopping them.
The prohibition against partisan speech is for ALL non-profit organizations, not just churches.





Apparently, at the time the law was passed (1954) the government was concerned with communists infiltrating the non-profits to fund subversive activities.
1) Every individual has the right to speak their mind.





2) Nobody has the right to be tax exempt.





3) The constitution gives individuals rights, not churches.
In order to maintain the tax exempt status, a group (any exempt group...including ACORN) must remain non-political or partisan. That way, the government knows??? that they are not in a sense funding one belief or another.
A ';tax exempt church'; is tax exempt because they keep their nose out of politics. When a church gets into politics and the inner working of any Nation, they will and should lose that tax-exempt status.
The church can give up its special tax exempt status any time it likes.
since when ? ive never heard anything about that..no source?

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