{"version": "1.0", "type": "rich", "title": "The big religious freedom reveal is about\u2026 the Johnson amendment? That\u2019s not gonna pay off the promise.\n\n \nI can\u2019t imagine who...", "author_name": "kontextmaschine", "author_url": "https://kontextmaschine.com", "provider_name": "kontextmaschine", "provider_url": "https://kontextmaschine.com", "url": "https://kontextmaschine.com/post/160319319383/", "html": "

invertedporcupine:

\n

kontextmaschine:

\n
\n

The big religious freedom reveal is about\u2026 the Johnson amendment? That\u2019s not gonna pay off the promise.\n

\n

\nI can\u2019t 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?\n

\n

\nMaaaaybe the Roman Catholic Church, they\u2019ve 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.\n

\n

\nAt least Bush the Younger\u2019s \u201cFaith-Based Initiatives\u201d 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.

\n
\n

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.

\n
\n

\u2026with all the tax exemption/deductability of 501©s and the latitude of lobbying orgs? Hm. Okay, I guess I was missing that.

"}