MANSFIELD — From nearly every angle, religious values are under assault. Recently Democratic Presidential Candidate Beto O’Rourke at a town hall threatened to take away the tax-exempt status of churches who do not follow liberal progressive orthodoxy.
Previously, in 2011 the atheist group Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF) sued the IRS to eliminate the tax exemption for housing allowances, putting faith-based congregations at risk. Their efforts failed in a court decision this year.
(Submitted photo)
Pastor Ron Puff of Pleasant Valley Baptist lives in a parsonage provided by his congregation. “In my opinion, O’Rourke’s comments are connected with this FFRF lawsuit-it really is the same issue. Liberal progressives are shooting arrows in our direction from all sides; they want to dismantle the Constitution and the Freedom of Religion piece by piece to create a domino effect.”
Reverend J.C. Church of Victory in Truth Ministries in Bucyrus agrees with Puff.
“O’Rourke may have said it at the town hall (revoking tax exempt status), but the rest of the Democrat Party was thinking it.
“In regards to the FFRF lawsuit, some small churches do not have enough people to support a full-time clergy salary so the congregation provides a parsonage or a housing allowance as a benefit. There is no question religious institutions positively impact the community. This benefit simply helps congregations to provide for their pastor.”
According to Puff, “If the tax exemption for our parsonage was eliminated, it would harm the congregation; we are a small rural church. Our church relies on giving by our congregants.”
Fortunately on March 15, 2019, a three-judge panel from the Seventh Circuit Federal Court of Appeals unanimously ruled that the parsonage allowance is constitutional, stating it “is simply one of many per se rules” that “allow hundreds of thousands of employees (including ministers) to receive tax-exempt housing every year.” The decision also said it is consistent with the nation’s “lengthy tradition of tax exemptions for religion, particularly for church-owned properties.”
Current tax policy already lightens the tax burden of the taxpayers who receive ordinary lodging and housing allowances like hotel managers, commercial fishermen, military and peace corps.
“If the issue was about constitutionality, then the FFRF would go after tax abatements given to large corporations. What is the difference? The difference is religion. The FFRF fears the potential influence that churches hold. Ultimately I believe the FFRF is demonstrating a form of religious bigotry.”
Reverend Ron Puff
Pleasant Valley Baptist
Puff comments, “If the issue was about constitutionality, then the FFRF would go after tax abatements given to large corporations. What is the difference? The difference is religion. The FFRF fears the potential influence that churches hold. Ultimately I believe the FFRF is demonstrating a form of religious bigotry.”
In June 2019, FFRF decided not to appeal the Seventh Circuit’s decision, definitively securing a victory for the parsonage allowance and houses of worship across the country.
(Submitted photo)
Church says the decisive defeat in the Seventh District last Spring is an embarrassment for the Wisconsin-based FFRF.
“With the recent transformation of the federal judiciary, FFRF doesn’t even appear to have a home-field advantage in their own appellate jurisdiction anymore.”
See the video below pertaining to the parsonage allowance case successfully defended in court by Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, a non-profit, public-interest legal and educational institute with a mission to protect the free expression of all faiths.
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