This is a very interesting warning to the church, pastors and evangelicals!
Although all non-profits (especially those that are faith based, pro-life, pro-family) are very much aware of this restriction, it appears that the State of Hawaii wants to be absolutely sure that those of faith know their place; keep your faith and your opinion to yourselves and your mouth shut, for fear of…
This was and still is a democrat driven issue, to control the message. However Pastors and the church have always been instrumental throughout the history of our nation, remember “the Black Robe Regiment.” Because Christian ministers established in America the freedoms and opportunities not generally available even in Europe, they were also at the forefront of resisting encroachments on the civil and religious liberties that they had helped secure.
Today we still have brave Pastors willing to speak out, to speak the truth and to guide their flocks as they should. Unfortunately not enough, if we did we would not have the elected legislative body who have ruled over us for decades. Remember a democrat created this problem and not surprising it’s democrats in congress who are fighting to keep it in place. And the last thing Hawaii liberals want is to be exposed from the pulpit for who they are, what they stand for and their true agenda for us and our children.
So know who you are voting for. Those who lean towards democratic socialism or those who will honor their oath to the people of Hawaii and the U.S. Constitution.
REPRESENTATIVE WARD ADVISES WHITE HOUSE OF HAWAII AG’S THREAT
√ From: Representative Gene Ward
Date: Thu, 26 Jul 2018 17:08:19 -1000
Subject: HAWAII AG SENDS “WARNING” TO HAWAII’S PASTORS
Aloha White House Liaisons,
This email is a brief reminder of how important the President’s Johnson Amendment Executive Order is to Hawaii, Attached is a warning from our Attorney General disguised as a “News Release” telling our pastors to keep their distance from anything suggestively political near their pulpits.
With an already largely timid group of pastors in Hawaii, the attached memo will serve to shut them down even further. Only very few now pass out voter registrations forms or voter guides about who’s running and what they stand for without advocating any candidates per se. The newly appointed Attorney General’s memo will thus send a chilling message throughout Hawaii’s clergy and make pastors even more fearful than they are already.
The AG’s memo says nothing new to what pastors already know and have been cowered by in the past, but it also says nothing about what they can do, so the intent is clearly intimidation with the IRS 501 (c) (3) argument being dangled in front of them.
Hawaii already has the lowest voter turn-out in the nation (43% in 2016) and it is probably even lower in most churches due to the fear of most pastors that they are entangling themselves or jeopardizing their not for profit existence.
Please let me know if there is anything that might be done about this at the federal level. Recall my last trip to Washington DC was meeting with Samantha in the White House about this same issue and what advice could be shared with pastors on what the impact of the Johnson Amendment Executive Order could have on us, if anything. To my knowledge, no church or pastor has violated any of the issues the Attorney General is putting up to their faces, and the timing of the release is troubling being so close to our Primary Election on August 11th.
I look forward to hearing from you if there is any advice that might be passed on to our Hawaii pastors regarding this memo from our Attorney General.
Mahalo and Aloha,
Rep. Gene Ward
Hawaii House Minority Leader Emeritus
Hawaii National Committeeman
IN THE NEWS
√ Trump claims he got rid of the Johnson Amendment. Is that true? (He tried … guess who block it?)
By Miriam Valverde on Tuesday, July 18th, 2017
“We’ve really helped because I’ve gotten rid of the Johnson Amendment, now we are going to go try to get rid of it permanently in Congress, but I signed an executive order so that now people like you that I want to hear from, ministers and and preachers and rabbis and whoever it may be, they can speak,” Trump said in a July 12 interview with Robertson. “You know, you couldn’t speak politically before; now you can. And I want to hear from you and others that we like.”
During the campaign Trump accurately said that an amendment pushed by Lyndon B. Johnson threatened religious institutions with the loss of their tax-exempt status if they openly advocated their political views. Trump then said he would repeal that language. […]
The term “Johnson Amendment” derives from America’s 36th president, Lyndon B. Johnson, who became president when John F. Kennedy was assassinated in 1963. Johnson championed the restriction in 1954 when he was a U.S. senator running for re-election. A conservative nonprofit group that wanted to limit the treaty-making ability of the president produced material that called for electing his primary opponent, millionaire rancher-oilman Dudley Dougherty.
In response, Johnson, then Senate Democratic minority leader, introduced an amendment to section 501(c)(3) of the federal tax code dealing with tax-exempt charitable organizations, including groups organized and operated exclusively for religious, charitable, scientific, literacy and educational purposes, or to prevent cruelty to children or animals. The objective was to restrict the involvement in partisan politics of organizations that wanted to be exempt from paying taxes.
√ Johnson Amendment Repeal Removed from Final GOP Tax Bill
(UPDATED) Trump promise to let churches make political endorsements blocked by Senate rule.
Kate Shellnutt December 15, 2017
A Democratic senator announced Thursday night that the repeal included in the House version of the tax bill, which would allow churches and other nonprofits to endorse candidates without losing their tax-exempt status, was removed during the reconciliation process with the Senate version, which did not include a repeal.
According to Senator Ron Wyden, the senior Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee, the Johnson Amendment repeal was blocked by the Senate parliamentarian. Because of a requirement called the Byrd Rule, reconciliation bills—which are passed through a simple Senate majority—cannot contain “extraneous” provisions that don’t primarily deal with fiscal policy, The Wall Street Journal reported. […]
Democrats have opposed the measure, and Wyden said he was pleased they prevented the repeal and would “continue to fight all attempts to eliminate this critical provision.”
