Smother the Churches

For John, BLUF:  Narrow minds that are looking for conformance rather that exploration.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Atheist Lawsuit Would Force Churches to Ask the IRS for Permission to Exist

From PJ Media, by Mr Tyler O'Neil, 26 November 2018.

Here is the lede plus Three:

An atheist group has taken direct aim at the free exercise of religion, attempting to subject churches to the rule of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), enabling the exact kind of targeting experienced by tea party groups under President Obama.  A Washington, D.C. church is fighting back, defending the central constitutional principle that religious freedom is not subject to the whims of government control.

"This is nothing more than just a naked attempt to harm churches and religion because FFRF believes that religion is bad," Erik Stanley, senior counsel at Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), told PJ Media on Monday.  His organization filed a motion to intervene on behalf of New Macedonia Baptist Church in the case NonBelief Relief v. David J. Kautter.

NonBelief Relief sued Kautter, acting commissioner for the IRS, in October.  The IRS had revoked the organization's tax-exempt status after NonBelief Relief refused to file a Form-990 for the third year in a row.  The IRS requires non-profit organizations to submit the form — which documents the internal finances and efforts of the organization in question — every year, unless the organization is a church or other religious body.

It seems natural that NonBelief Relief might demand the same exemption given to churches should also apply to them, but that's not what they argue for in this lawsuit.  Instead, they claim that churches should not be exempt.  They support the Form-990 so much, they want everyone to have to fill it out, and they'll protest by not filling it out until they can force everyone to fill it out.  Make sense?

In some ways this type of legal action is like a protection racket.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff