President Joe Biden is continuing President Obama’s practice of discriminating against Americans because of their religious beliefs.
Biden’s Internal Revenue Service has recently withheld tax exemption status from Christians Engaged, a Texas nonprofit that “exists to educate and empower Christians to pray for our nation and elected officials, vote, and be civically engaged.”
The reason for the rejection: IRS Exempt Organizations Director Stephen A. Martin accused the organization of “prohibited political campaign intervention”—their “illegal intervention” being educating Christians on what the Scriptures say about national issues.
And, according to Martin, “[B]ible teachings are typically affiliated with the [Republican] party and candidates.”
“You instruct individuals on issues that are prominent in political campaigns and instruct them in what the Bible says about the issue and how they should vote,” Martin wrote in a May letter to the group.
“For example, you educate believers on national issues that are central to their belief in the Bible as the inerrant Word of God. Specifically, you educate Christians on what the bible says in areas where they can be instrumental including the areas of sanctity of life, the definition of marriage, biblical justice, freedom of speech, defense, borders and immigration, U.S. and Israel relations,” Martin continued.
“The bible teachings are typically affiliated with the [Republican] party and candidates. This disqualifies you from exemption under IRS section 501(c)(3).”
The group’s legal counsel for the case, First Liberty Institute in Dallas, filed an appeal Wednesday and said Biden’s IRS is violating its own regulations with their discriminatory decision.
“The IRS states in an official letter that Biblical values are exclusively Republican. That might be news to President Biden, who is often described as basing his political ideology on his religious beliefs,” said Lea Patterson, Counsel for First Liberty Institute. “Only a politicized IRS could see Americans who pray for their nation, vote in every election, and work to engage others in the political process as a threat. The IRS violated its own regulations in denying tax exempt status because Christians Engaged teaches biblical values.”
“Certified non-profit groups encourage their members to vote in accordance with their values all the time. One would be hard-pressed to find a culturally-engaged 501(c)(3) listed entity not,” wrote The Federalist. “What they can’t do is endorse specific political actions or candidates. But according to the IRS under Biden, merely advocating for biblical values in government is an infringement on non-profit bans against overt political activism.”
“The act of praying for our country and our leaders is about the most nonpartisan and patriotic thing that Americans can do. Millions of citizens do it every day,” U.S. Congressman Ted Budd (R-N.C.) told The Epoch Times on Wednesday.
“The IRS was wrong to deny tax exempt status based on the false belief that the Bible somehow only belongs to one political party. The IRS still has a long way to go to ensure religious liberty for all.”
Christians Engaged President Bunni Pounds said, “We just want to encourage more people to vote and participate in the political process. How can anyone be against that?”
The IRS decision is a continuation of how the Obama administration weaponized the agency during his tenure. His IRS targeted hundreds of conservative, Tea Party, and Christian tax-exemption applicants because of their political and religious beliefs, prompting multiple lawsuits against the IRS, and the Department of Justice to acknowledge the scandal and settle cases for undisclosed amounts.
The Christians Engaged incident also comes after a group of 43 Republican US senators in May proposed the “Don’t Weaponize the IRS Act,” a law to prevent a repeat of the IRS’ 2013 targeting scandal.
However, now that the IRS is again controlled by Democrats, they are re-starting their ideological persecution against Americans.
“By finding that Christians Engaged does not meet the operational test, Director Martin errs in three ways,” wrote First Liberty in its administrative appeal letter.
“1) he invents a nonexistent requirement that exempt organizations be neutral on public policy issues; 2) he incorrectly concludes that Christians Engaged primarily serves private, nonexempt purposes rather than public, exempt purposes because he thinks its beliefs overlap with the Republican Party’s policy positions; and 3) he violates the First Amendment’s Free Speech, and Free Exercise, and Establishment clauses by engaging in both viewpoint discrimination and religious discrimination.”
