Trump Signs Religious Liberty Executive Order


During his campaign, after years of comments in support of gay marriage and abortion, many conservatives expressed doubt over Donald Trump’s social conservatism. But now that he’s president, Trump looks to be delivering on his promise to bring conservative ideas back to the federal government.

Now President Trump has made good on another campaign promise:

President Trump marked the National Day of Prayer by signing an executive order aimed at boosting religious freedom by easing IRS restrictions against political activities by tax-exempt religious organizations, including churches.

Declaring “no one should be censoring sermons,” Trump announced the order, which fulfilled a campaign pledge, during a Rose Garden ceremony Thursday attended by religious leaders, activists and Vice President Pence.

“We will not allow people of faith to be targeted, bullied or silenced again and we will never stand for religious discrimination,” Trump said before signing the order, which states it is now administration policy is “to protect and vigorously promote religious liberty.”

The ban on political speech from the pulpit is rooted in an amendment introduced in 1954 by then-Democratic Sen. Lyndon Johnson that gave the IRS authority to punish tax-exempt charitable organizations, including churches, for making political endorsements or getting involved in political campaigns.

The order directs the IRS to exercise maximum enforcement discretion to alleviate the burden of the so-called Johnson Amendment.

In addition, it instructs the Treasury Department not to target the tax-exempt status of churches and other institutions if they express support for political candidates.

While Pence’s original attempt at a similar law in Indiana “backfired” from a PR perspective, the vice president has certainly learned from the debacle. After being forced to revise the bill in Indiana, he is unlikely to make the same mistakes again.

But liberals will still call it anti-LGBT — because that’s what they do. They say that everything Trump does is either racist, homophobic, or sexist.

Source: Fox News

 



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