Chodorow: Speaker Mike Johnson Wants To Unleash Ministers On Politics

Following up on last Sunday's post, The Christian Faith Of Speaker Of The House Mike Johnson:  Adam Chodorow (Arizona State; Google Scholar), Mike Johnson Wants to Unleash Ministers on Politics:

If the new speaker of the House goes after the Johnson Amendment (no relation!), it will be bad for elections and religion.

With the unexpected rise of Mike Johnson to the House speakership, reporters have been delving into his past, focusing in particular on positions he’s taken on topics like abortion, guns, and the 2020 election, as well as his proximity to Donald Trump. Most reporting has commented on Johnson’s conservative Christian beliefs, which at times veer close to Christian nationalism. However, there is an important tax angle. There always is. In this case, it seems almost certain that Johnson will attempt to repeal or weaken the Johnson Amendment (no relation!), which bans tax-exempt organizations, including churches, from participating in political campaigns. ...

The Johnson Amendment doesn’t prohibit ministers from engaging in politics. But it conditions tax exemption on refraining from doing so, just as it does for all other tax-exempt organizations. Until recently, the expectation was that generally applicable rules would apply to all, regardless of their religious beliefs. However, the Supreme Court has slowly but surely been whittling away at this, granting those with religious beliefs exemptions from a variety of rules ranging from contraception coverage to anti-discrimination laws. One can easily imagine the court deciding that an exemption is warranted here as well.

We typically think of the separation of church and state as preventing majorities from imposing their religious beliefs and practices on minorities or protecting religious organizations from government interference. However, there is a third category of harm that deserves careful consideration. Religion tends to be about absolute truths and unbending principles. In contrast, politics is often about compromise and self-interest. It is not always pretty. Politicians can be quite flawed individuals, and the danger to religion and religious organizations is that they will end up compromising their own doctrines, moral codes, and commitments to core values in support of one politician or political party or another. ...

The First Amendment requires some activities, prohibits others, and has a third category—the play between the joints—in which Congress could act if it wanted but is not required to do so. Assuming that the Supreme Court does not eventually require Congress to allow ministers to engage in politics from the pulpit, religious organizations should take a good, hard look at whether this is actually a path they seek to go down. If you lie down with dogs, you can’t be surprised if you wind up with fleas.

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