The Freedom From Religion Foundation and its legislative arm, the FFRF Action Fund, are proud to be among some 1,000 nonprofit organizations signing onto a public letter calling on President Trump and Congress to champion nonpartisanship and public trust by defending the Johnson Amendment.

“Today, the National Council of Nonprofits, American Humanist Association, Americans United for Separation of Church and State, Freedom From Religion Foundation, Independent Sector, Interfaith Alliance, Public Citizen and other leading nonprofit organizations launched a national sign-on letter addressed to President Trump,” announced the press release from Public Citizen, which helped coordinate the campaign.

“Undermining the Johnson Amendment would do lasting harm to our democracy,” the press release quotes Annie Laurie Gaylor, co-president of FFRF and president of FFRF Action Fund. “That’s why such a broad coalition — spanning secular and religious organizations, good governance advocates and nonprofits across the political spectrum — is speaking out together.”

The letter to Trump condemns efforts to ignore or weaken the Johnson Amendment. This longstanding federal law prohibits 501(c)(3) nonprofits from using their tax-exempt resources to endorse or oppose political candidates.

“For more than 70 years,” the letter states about the Johnson Amendment, “it has ensured that all tax-exempt charitable nonprofits — including houses of worship — do not become conduits for partisan politics, protecting public trust in religious institutions and preserving the integrity of elections.” The signatories remind Trump that churches and faith leaders already have the right to speak out about political issues in their personal capacity, and even run for office, and can speak out on policy concerns in a nonpartisan manner.

The letter was sparked by a proposed legal settlement involving the Internal Revenue Service and National Religious Broadcasters, in which the IRS shocked the nation by saying that “communications from a house of worship to its congregation in connection with religious services” do not violate the Johnson Amendment.

At a press conference today announcing the group letter, Guthrie Graves-Persimmons of the Interfaith Alliance cited survey after survey showing that the public, including 98 percent of evangelical leaders, do not want churches to endorse from the pulpit. He pointed out the U.S. Catholic bishops have announced that Catholic parishes will not be endorsing from the pulpit and that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons) has likewise eschewed politics from the pulpit.

Representing the National Council of Churches, Rev. Leslie Copeland-Tune, a Baptist, noted that worshippers consider church a “safe and sacred place” that would be sullied by partisan politicking, and that such actions would damage public trust in clergy.

Rob Weissman, co-president of Public Citizen, noted how the overturning of the Johnson Amendment “threatens to be the most catastrophic degradation of campaign finance law since Citizens United.” He warned, “Expect huge amounts of dark money to flow — not just dark money but tax-deductible dark money.”

That there is such broad support, from the public, religious groups and sects of diverse persuasions, and hundreds of other nonprofits, underscores the importance of ensuring that the Trump administration is not allowed to do an end-run on the Johnson Amendment.

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.

The post FFRF joins 1,000 nonprofits defending Johnson Amendment’s nonpartisan rules appeared first on Freedom From Religion Foundation.