The Freedom From Religion Foundation is calling out Speaker of the House Mike Johnson for misrepresenting the history of state/church separation while praising the dismantlement of the Johnson Amendment, a crucial safeguard to protect electoral integrity.
In a strongly worded letter to the speaker sent today, the state/church watchdog criticized Johnson’s recent op-ed praising an IRS-proposed consent decree that paves the way for churches to endorse political candidates while maintaining their tax-exempt status. The IRS filing, while technically applicable to only two litigating churches, claims it’s now legal for churches (but not other tax-exempt organizations) to tell their own members how to vote in elections. Johnson falsely portrays the Johnson Amendment, a 1954 tax law provision prohibiting 501(c)(3) nonprofits, including churches, from engaging in partisan electioneering, as a violation of free speech.
FFRF charges that Johnson’s essay is “deeply flawed and historically inaccurate,” and that his advocacy for religious privilege over constitutional neutrality betrays his oath of office.
FFRF’s letter rebuts Johnson’s claims that the Johnson Amendment “censors” religious speech, explaining that houses of worship, like all 501(c)(3) organizations, are free to speak and preach, but may not use tax-subsidized resources to endorse candidates. FFRF also corrects Johnson’s selective historical interpretations by highlighting the secular nature of the U.S. Constitution and the clear intent of the Founders to keep religion out of government:
“The Framers of the Constitution made the United States first among nations to invest sovereignty not in a deity, but in ‘We the People.’ The proscription against religion in government has served our nation well, with the U.S. Constitution now the longest living constitution in history, and our nation spared the constant religious wars afflicting theocratic regions around the world.”
Johnson’s remarks, including his assertion that American politics must be guided by a “fear of eternal judgment,” are especially alarming given his role as speaker, the third-highest constitutional officer in the country.
“Speaker Johnson’s op-ed reveals a fundamental misunderstanding of our secular form of government and our pluralistic nation,” says FFRF Co-President Annie Laurie Gaylor. “Nonreligious Americans are the largest single ‘denomination’ by religious identification, making up nearly a third of the population, and his words suggest that they and other non-Christians are second-class citizens.”
Johnson’s revisionist history claims the Constitution was designed primarily to protect religion, not to limit its influence on government.
“Your insistence that Thomas Jefferson’s ‘wall of separation between church and state’ was only intended to protect religion from government interference disregards his actual words and his actions,” the letter points out. “Keeping religion out of the government is a fundamental American ideal, essential for true religious freedom, and has been a tremendous asset to our society.”
FFRF warns that gutting the Johnson Amendment would further erode the constitutional wall between religion and government, allowing houses of worship to become unregulated vehicles for political campaigns — subsidized by taxpayers.
FFRF’s letter concludes by calling on Johnson to either uphold his constitutional duty to govern without religious bias or resign.
The Freedom From Religion Foundation is a U.S.-based nonprofit dedicated to promoting the constitutional principle of separation between state and church and educating the public on matters of nontheism. With more than 42,000 members, FFRF advocates for freethinkers’ rights across the globe. For more information, visit ffrf.org.
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