Sunday, June 28, 2015

Churches Will Lose Tax Exemption

War on Christianity: American Churches Who Oppose Same-Sex Marriage Will Lose Tax Exemption
The admission was made by Barack Hussein Obama's lawyer, the sitting Solicitor General of the United States, Donald Verrilli, Jr., on Tuesday, April 28, 2015, during questioning by Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, Samuel Alito, Jr.
Solicitor General Verrilli, using a public office to defend same-sex marriage on behalf of the United States, was asked by Justice Alito if religious institutions could be at risk of losing their tax-exempt status due to their beliefs about
Biblical marriage. Verrilli's reply was, "It's certainly going to be an issue."
Chief Justice John Roberts then asked, would a religious school with married housing be required to afford such housing to same-sex couples?
Solicitor Verrilli did not say no. Instead, he responded with, "Presently, the federal government does not have a law banning discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity."
This all took place as thousands of gay and lesbian activists rallied outside the Supreme Court in Washington on Tuesday, the groups which demand "tolerance" but have none for anyone else acting upon their own moral principles which are antithetical to their own.
So, what does this tell us? The Solicitor General of the United States government officially told the Supreme Court of the United States what the official policy of the Obama Administration is going to be―that the tax-exempt status of churches and religious schools will in fact be in jeopardy if they dare to oppose the presidential proclamation mandating homosexual marriage. Likewise, Christian colleges will survive only as an accommodation on a state-by-state basis, and until Washington passes its own federal legislation or regulations.
Understanding the extreme lawlessness and rebellion of the current administration and its hatred of all that is moral and virtuous and decent, it should come as no surprise that this agenda not only flies in the face of the law, it establishes a direct insurgency against the lawful authority of the People.
The Constitution of the United States of America―still the Supreme Law of the Land since it has not yet been lawfully amended, repealed or rescinded―is crystal clear about the role the federal government can play in going against the American people regarding their freedom to engage in and not be denied religious convictions.
The Bill of Rights, which is inseparable from the Constitution, says in its Preamble, "...having at the time of their adopting the Constitution," the Conventions of a number of the States "expressed a desire, in order to prevent misconstruction or abuse of its powers, that further declaratory and restrictive clauses should be added: And as extending the ground of public confidence in the Government, will best ensure the beneficent ends of its institution."
Many states in the Union in fact flat-out refused to sign the Constitutional contract between the States and the People into law without the addition of the Bill of Rights to further bind down the hands of the government from potential abuses of the unalienable Creator-endowed rights of the People.
The First Article in Amendment to the Bill of Rights: Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
Did everyone catch that? The active clause is "shall make no law," and there is no interpretation needed or warranted for such simple, coherent and succinct language. It is undeniable in its intent. Where is this all headed?
A group of prominent Christian leaders, including Reverend Franklin Graham, Dr. James Dobson, Governor Mike Huckabee and National Religious Broadcasters (NRB) President Jerry Johnson, signed a letter to warn the Supreme Court that they will not obey. The pledge in solidarity to defend the sanctity of marriage said, "We respectfully warn the Supreme Court not to cross that line. We stand united together in defense of marriage. Make no mistake about our resolve."
Several of the signers made it very clear that they are calling for widespread civil disobedience and resistance. To their credit, the Declaration of Independence, our nation's very first official founding declaratory document which is still in effect and preceded even the Articles of Confederation, laid the preliminary groundwork for the duty of all Americans, should our government become the despotic and destructive force that it has become. And it goes way farther than mere civil disobedience and resistance. It commands forceful yet lawful removal and replacement of that government, by the People:
"That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of [our Creator-endowed unalienable Rights of Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness], it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to affect their Safety and Happiness. . . . But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security."
We are quickly approaching a very dangerous time for this country. The United States has never been so polarized and divided since the Civil War. And it's no wonder, considering that Obama has compared his presidency to that of Abraham Lincoln's, the man who presided over the most tumultuously divided and war-torn era in our nation's history. In fact, Obama has been compared to President Lincoln over and over and over again. Is that a giveaway?
There were two divisive political issues during the time of the Civil War of the mid-19th century which had profound religious and moral connotations. The two issues were human slavery and marriage. In both political battles, the early Republicans led the nation in morally opposing two great sins that were threatening to tear the country apart. First, the sin of slavery, which was hotly defended by the Democratic Party. The second issue was Mormon polygamy.
During the presidential election of 1856, the Republican Party platform pledged to "...prohibit in the territories those twin relics of barbarism, polygamy and slavery."
The Republican-dominated 37th United States Congress passed the Morrill Anti-Bigamy Act, and Abraham Lincoln, America's first Republican President, signed it into law on July 8, 1862. The law banned marriages of a plurality of more than one man and one woman.
Contrarily, the radical, lawless Mormons in the state of Utah ignored the federal law. Congress passed tougher anti-polygamy laws, including the Senator Poland Act of 1874, which called for federal prosecution of polygamists and eliminated the control that Mormon members exerted over the justice system in Utah. The Mormon polygamy activists were so radical and determined to change the definition of marriage, that federal military forces were deployed to the Utah territory to suppress the insurrection. And Utah's courts and law enforcement agencies were reorganized to break-up the considerable power of the Mormons.
The Republican party's defense of traditional marriage was so strong that the Congress refused to allow Utah Congressman George Cannon to take his seat in the House, because he was married to multiple women.
Fast-forward to 2015.
The two issues tearing this country apart are comparably moral issues: abortion and same-sex marriage. This time, however, the Republican Party has lost its moral compass and is quickly drifting into irrelevance as a political force. It is merely a hollow shell of its strong forebear and is now vestigial at best. Simply said, it has acquiesced and no longer has any teeth. Does that offend you? Well, judging a tree by the fruit it bears, what do you see?
It is high time that ALL Bible-believing Christians walk out of both the fallen Democratic and Republican parties and do whatever is necessary within the law to restore the principles and ideals which this nation was founded upon.
Not only do the Holy Scriptures portend the devastating conclusion this is leading to, but non-religious historical and literary texts do as well. Every shining nation of significant cultural and philosophical renaissance which descended into same-sex practices and sodomy, pedophilia, child sacrifice and abortion, human slavery, the practice of witchcraft and other depravities—from antiquity to recent recollection—has been taken into captivity, fallen by the sword, brought utterly to ruin, laid waste and turned to ash.
Did I make myself clear?  Anyone who can't yet see the writing on the wall is willfully blinded. These two magazine issues were released by two separate media outlets on the same day, back on May 21, 2012:
Also, more recently, the White House Tweeted a bizarre propagandistic photo on April 10, 2015, depicting a Barack Obama with a god-like rainbow emanating from his hand. Thankfully, the ostentatious gasconade of the Obama White House backfired and received a deluge of sarcastic condemnations from even his former ardent supporters.
And probably a vast majority of these now disillusioned people once viewed him as "sort of a god," the "second coming," the "god of all things," the "messiah," the "alpha and the omega," their "lord and savior," and many other exalting apotheoses.
Every true Christian knows exactly what is going on here. The rainbow was set in the clouds as a sign from the Creator God, an eternal covenant between Him and us that He would never again judge the earth and its inhabitants by water:
And God said, This is the token of the covenant which I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for perpetual generations: I do set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a token of a covenant between me and the earth. And the bow shall be in the cloud; and I will look upon it, that I may remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is upon the earth (Genesis 9:12-13,16).
And what was the reason God judged the earth in the first place? Because God "saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth," that "every imagination of his heart was only evil continually" [1]. Every living thing had corrupted and defiled its flesh in defiance of the natural way that God had divinely ordained. And that is the reason that the gay and lesbian community have adopted the rainbow as its "Gay Pride" banner, because is at the very heart of the original sin which has vexed mankind from day one, is pride.
In conclusion, notwithstanding the office of the presidency being used as a subversive political machine to dictate amorality, an extreme polarization is coming to this nation. It will be felt strongest between the true followers of the teachings of Jesus Christ who take a stand for our faith, no matter what, and those weak, apathetic and apostate religionists who render unto the abominable will of wicked men for purposes of security and political correctness.
This issue of sodomy, which taunts under the banner of pride, will separate the sheep from the goats in the very near future. And if that issue doesn't purify the body of Christ, then the overhanging genocide of 70+ million unborn children since Roe v. Wade most assuredly will. For the righteous blood of the innocent cries out to God from the ground for vengeance [1][2][3], and only the pure in heart will be blessed, and only they will see God.
"If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you" (John 15:18), And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake: but he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved" (Mark 13:13).
Source:http://freedomoutpost.com/2015/05/war-on-christianity-american-churches-who-oppose-same-sex-marriage-will-lose-tax-exemption/
Another Opinion from LA times:
Will a religious institution lose tax-exempt status for refusing to marry a same-sex couple?, LA Times, 6/26/15
A hot question in conservative circles for months gained steam Friday with the Supreme Court's landmark decision on same-sex marriage. The concern: Could a church-related institution, such as a college, lose its tax exemption for refusing to give equal treatment to same-sex couples?
While it’s possible that issue may arise down the road, we’re a long way from that now. Supreme Court rules on same-sex marriage: Joy, defiance and questions result
The precedent would be the case of Bob Jones University in South Carolina, which lost its tax exemption because its official policy was to expel anyone who dated a person of another race. The Nixon administration first threatened to take away the school’s tax exemption in 1970. The IRS didn’t actually act until January 1976. The Supreme Court finally ruled on the case in 1983, which was 16 years after the court in Loving vs. Virginia struck down laws against interracial marriage.
But a minister refusing to perform a same-sex marriage is a very different issue. The Supreme Court’s ruling in Bob Jones emphasized that its ruling applied "only with religious schools — not with churches or other purely religious institutions." The First Amendment shields clergy members from government interference with their religious duties.
Here’s what Justice Anthony M. Kennedy’s opinion today said on that point:
“Finally, it must be emphasized that religions, and those who adhere to religious doctrines, may continue to advocate with utmost, sincere conviction that, by divine precepts, same-sex marriage should not be condoned. The First Amendment ensures that religious organizations and persons are given proper protection as they seek to teach the principles that are so fulfilling and so central to their lives and faiths, and to their own deep aspirations to continue the family structure they have long revered.”
http://www.latimes.com/nation/nationnow/la-na-tax-exemptions-religious-20150626-story.html

No comments:

Post a Comment