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Dear John,
During a CNN presidential town hall last night, Democratic hopeful Beto O’Rourke was asked:
“Do you think religious institutions like colleges, churches, charities, should lose their tax-exempt status if they oppose same-sex marriage?”
Without missing a beat, he responded, “Yes.”
He went on to say, “There can be no reward, no benefit, no tax break for anyone or any institution, any organization in America, that denies the full human rights and the full civil rights of every single one of us.”
And if that wasn’t enough, he made a pledge to make it one of his priorities as president to strip churches of their tax-exempt status for simply following thousands of years of religious teaching doctrine.
O’Rourke’s threat is a direct affront to the constitutional guarantee of religious liberty. His outrageous call to end this longstanding benefit to houses of worship is a dangerous attack on one of the most fundamental rights under the First Amendment, the right of religious institutions to operate according to their deeply-held beliefs.
Not only is his idea legally wrong, it’s bad policy. Recent studies show that religion contributes an estimated $1.2 trillion to the U.S. economy annually—more than Google, Amazon, Apple, and Microsoft, combined. And as you know, churches and religious organizations have an enormous impact in our local communities with the services they provide.
O’Rourke certainly isn’t the first to try such a stunt.
First Liberty Institute has a long track record of defending churches, ministries, and faith-based organizations from illegal threats such as the one that O’Rourke is posing. In fact, our firm successfully defended a group of Texas churches and pastors in 2009 when their position on marriage and support of then-Governor Rick Perry drew the ire of the IRS.
So, let me end with this: Should O’Rourke, or any future President, attempt to violate the Constitution in such a way, First Liberty will once again be First in the Fight to defend religious freedom.
Gratefully,
Kelly
Kelly J. Shackelford, Esq.
President, CEO & Chief Counsel
First Liberty Institute
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