WASHINGTON, March 9, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – US Congress saw the introduction of a new bill – the Houses of Worship Freedom of Speech Restoration Act – to reverse 50 years of suppression of free speech resulting from a 1954 bill stipulating that religious groups be allowed to maintain their tax exempt status only if they steer clear of politics.
Introduced by Rep. Walter Jones (R-NC), the bill seeks to amend the Internal Revenue Code to protect churches from being denied tax status, should a pastor, priest, or rabbi speak out on political matters.
“If passed, H.R. 235 will allow America’s religious leaders to speak freely from the pulpit on the moral and political issues of the day,” said a rightmarch.com action alert. Rightmarch.com is urging interested individuals to contact their members of congress to get the bill released from the Ways and Means Committee, where the bill has remained dormant for some time.
“We need to get this bill out of committee and onto the floor for a vote,” the rightmarch.com alert urges. “This bill is necessary to reverse an obscure bill that became law back in 1954 – a law that has placed an IRS ‘gag order’ on all of our houses of worship,” the rightmarch.com alert explains. “Today, it is that threat of IRS action that is silencing tens of thousands of religious leaders; in fact, some churches have been dragged into court over this issue.”
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