501(c)(3) Heresy Destroys the Church and America * WorldNetDaily * by George Bailey

Over the past seven decades, an insidious heresy has infiltrated the American Church, making it greedy, idolatrous, proud, cowardly, and blind.

Dubbed the “501(c)(3) heresy,” it has spread like a man-made Chinese virus through every corner of the American church, leaving few pastors, churches, seminaries, Christian schools, or Christian organizations untouched.

As the American church has slowly crumbled from within and failed in its mission to be the spiritual conscience of the nation, America has also crumbled. Today, the curses of Deuteronomy that God warned us about are pouring out in a calamitous crescendo as the nation moves closer to destruction.

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Everywhere, the corrupt fruit of “501(c)(3) heresy” proliferates. Prayer (Engel v. Vitale, 1962), the Bible (Abington Township v. Schempp, 1963), and the Ten Commandments (Stone v. Graham, 1980) have been removed from American public schools. Baby murder has been legalized (Roe v. Wade, 1973) and continues in the states (Dobbs v. Jackson, 2022). Same-sex marriage has been instituted (Obergefell v. Hodges, 2015). Drug addiction has become an epidemic. Comprehensive sex education in schools sexualizes and perverts children. Crime, murder, pornography, rape, and child sex trafficking are rampant—and America is now the most indebted nation in the history of the world.

So what is the “501(c)(3) heresy” that has caused such destruction? Here are its main tenets:

• The American Church should be apolitical and stay completely out of the public square.
• Tax-exempt status should be prioritized over telling the truth, being salt and light – and all the rest.

But how did this doctrine of demons come to be and take over most of the American Church, like a powerful serpent crushing its victim to death before devouring it?

In 1954, U.S. Senator (and future president) Lyndon Johnson sneaked a small amendment into the Internal Revenue Code of 1954. This amendment threatened churches (and other 501(c)(3) nonprofits) with losing their tax-exempt status if they got involved in politics. Johnson introduced this amendment to settle a personal vendetta he had against a conservative nonprofit group that opposed him politically in Texas—and to silence them.

Known today as the Johnson Amendment, this 31-word addition to the 501(c)(3) nonprofit tax code requires churches and other 501(c)(3) nonprofits to “refrain from supporting or opposing political candidates or contributing financially to their campaigns.” Any violation of these provisions would jeopardize a church or nonprofit’s tax-exempt status, according to IRS guidelines.

Here are the 31 words of the Johnson Amendment that were added to the IRS’s 501(c)(3) tax code: “…and does not participate in or intervene (including the publication or distribution of statements), in any political campaign on behalf of (or in opposition to) any candidate for public office.”

Churches suddenly found themselves faced with the dilemma of choosing between the biblical mandate to speak truth to power (like John the Baptist condemning Herod for taking his brother’s wife) and its consequences (John the Baptist lost his mind) – or remaining politically silent and protecting their money.

For the first time in American history, churches began to retreat politically, choosing money over Truth – and the heretical “we don’t talk politics” church was born.

Soon, many compromised churches and nonprofits across the country began to boast about their ability to avoid political and cultural issues. This subtle art of “apolitical moral piety” has now spread to the majority of American Christian churches and organizations.

The Church is no longer the moral gyroscope of the nation that God intended. Instead, pastors and churches have chosen to hide behind their religious rhetoric of “we only talk about Jesus” – and have literally let the country go to hell.

Nowhere in Scripture is the Church commanded to remain silent on moral or political issues. Full stop. Despite the restrictions imposed by Section 501(c)(3) on religious freedom, pastors are still free to engage in any type of political speech, as long as they are willing to risk their precious tax-exempt status—but few have been willing to do so.

Moreover, in most churches, there is little talk about the responsibility of Christians in the public square – and little encouragement for the faithful to register and vote according to their conscience in elections.

This is astonishing, because the IRS’s 501(c)(3) guidelines clearly state: “…Activities intended to encourage people to participate in the electoral process, such as voter registration and voter mobilization drives, would not be prohibited political campaign activities (in churches) if they were conducted in a nonpartisan manner.”

The extension of tax-exempt status to churches dates back to at least 457 B.C., when King Artaxerxes of Persia instructed the Jewish priest Ezra to rebuild the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem. In King Artaxerxes’ royal decree, he stated: “Know also that you have no authority to impose taxes, tributes, or duties on the priests, the Levites, the musicians, the gatekeepers, the temple servants, or any other workers in this house of God.” (Ezra 7:24)

A vibrant church provides vast benefits to a just government and more than repays the state for the revenue it would have earned by taxing churches and nonprofits; but linking a church’s tax-exempt status to political silence is a diabolical assault on constitutionally protected free speech.

The Johnson Amendment clearly violates the First Amendment’s political freedom of speech for Christian pastors and nonprofits—and must be repealed by Congress or struck down by the courts. While the constitutionality of the Johnson Amendment has never been properly tested in court, it would almost certainly be rejected if it were brought before the Supreme Court.

The Johnson Amendment’s chilling effect on free speech in the American church has been profound and breathtaking. Its offspring, the 501(c)(3) heresy, has transformed the once vibrant and powerful American church into a band of fearful, greedy, misguided heretics who have lost their savor—and who, as Jesus says in Luke 14:34, are not even fit for dung.

Let the American Church corrupted by 501(c)(3) heresy be warned and reformed before it is too late – or one day soon we may be holding services in Chinese, behind barbed wire!

Note: Please forward this article to every Christian pastor, Christian church, Christian school, and Christian organization you know – and help end 501(c)(3) heresy once and for all!

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