invertedporcupine:

kontextmaschine:

The big religious freedom reveal is about… the Johnson amendment? That’s not gonna pay off the promise.

I can’t imagine who even stands to benefit from weakening wards against direct congregational participation in electoral politics. The Scientologists? The Kiryas Joel Satmar and FLDS compounds that were already buying their autonomy by organizing their congregations as a transactional voting bloc?

Maaaaybe the Roman Catholic Church, they’ve got a big pro-life infrastructure in the rust belt states Trump flipped to red, that could help keep them. TBH more likely someone new who figures out how to use it, like the televangelists who figured out broadcasting.

At least Bush the Younger’s “Faith-Based Initiatives” thing had political logic , a pivot to Christian Democracy - soften the GOP image by identifying it with social programs, while redirecting social spending from (liberal) public agencies and NGOs to (conservative) churches, meanwhile get politically influential black churches on board and dependent on GOP-protected revenue streams.

I think you are missing the potential for a-religious interest groups and individuals to evade campaign contribution restrictions by laundering the money through either existing or new churches.

…with all the tax exemption/deductability of 501©s and the latitude of lobbying orgs? Hm. Okay, I guess I was missing that.