Trump has granted religions huge unchecked power over the government and made it easier for shadowy people to pour money into politics.

Trump signed an executive order which works to destroy the Johnson Amendment, which says says that non profits, like religious organisations, can't involve themselves in politics.

Trump acts like this is a First Amendment victory, allowing pastors and such to talk about politics from the pulpit.

The Johnson Amendment wasn't about stopping a religious leader from talking about politics to their congregation, rather it's about massive organisations, who don't pay taxes but do do have an agenda, having influence over the political process.

What Trump has done could turn Churches in to SuperPACS or worse. Religious organisations could spend money campaigning for politicians but they can also receive money from whoever.

This creates a way for people to funnel money into political campaigns without any accountability or transparency.

The thing is no one was even telling Churches they can't involve themselves in politics. All the Johnson Amendment said was Churches lose their tax exempt status if they do.

A religious leader can say what they want if their church, temple or mosque just paid taxes.

And this whole time barely any church got in trouble for this stuff.

2000 churches challenged the IRS about this since 2008 and only one has been audited.

But know it's gone, and with it the separation of church and state.

AiA wrote on May 11^th, 2017 at 10:46pm:

   

AiA wrote on May 11^th, 2017 at 11:18pm:

What a bunch of BS.

Raven must be on the mailing list for the Democrats.

A 180 degree spin.

What this does is free up pastors to speak their minds in church/synagogue/mosque without fear of an IRS audit or losing their tax exempt status.

If anything this puts the churches at odds with the "progressives" in gov.

Well done President Trump.

AiA wrote on May 12^th, 2017 at 12:13am:


That is a media hit piece because of her support for Trump.

Hillary sold 20% of the USA's uranium to Russia - why is that never mentioned by the MSM?

AiA wrote on May 11^th, 2017 at 11:58pm:

Panther wrote on May 12^th, 2017 at 8:37pm:


pretty much every post you make refers to SCOTUS and links back to your lamentable understanding of law and constitution or even the concepts thereof.

longweekend58 wrote on May 12^th, 2017 at 8:42pm:


Panther struggles.

As does juliar.

If those two are 'paid-to-post', their owners should demand a refund.

issuevoter wrote on May 13^th, 2017 at 7:51am:



the point is about the RIGHT to hold a religious belief or doctrine, not your personal  inability to understand it.

Religion is what we have because our ancestors did not know what thunder was or where the sun went at night.

It was our first attempt to explain the world around us. An eclipse "The sun god is angry at us, we must make a sacrifice"  God is an ever receding entity, in the light of scientific understanding.

Even the Christian god is no better then the pagan gods of old. A human sacrifice to ensure the survival of the rest of us.

Raven wrote on May 14^th, 2017 at 3:14am:


Religion fulfills a need for us to have some certainty in this World.

I am not religious but I notice that religious people are happier than those who are not.
Hard to argue against!

NorthOfNorth wrote on May 14^th, 2017 at 10:14am:


Ive never even heard that question asked. The answer relates to the understanding of the 'self' which is not as simple as you make it out to be.

longweekend58 wrote on May 14^th, 2017 at 5:49pm:
\


Careful Longy, you don't want to come across as dismissive and patronising now, do you?

Surely you must be educated enough to realise that many people consider reasoning and religion to be mutually exclusive.

Is your counter argument to Raven based on anything other than perception? If so, what?

Otherwise, you cannot legitimately fault Raven's reasoning. You can disagree with his conclusions, sure, but i see no valid counter argument to challenge his reasoning.

Richdude wrote on May 14^th, 2017 at 3:05pm:



I'm calling bullsh1t.

mothra wrote on May 15^th, 2017 at 5:16pm:


Again, confirmation bias. Then how do you account for the rapid growth of the Christian church outside of the west and the largely static (ie not reducing) count in the west.

You are speaking solely from your own experience and extrapolating it. And since you are  poorly regarding in the intelligence area, you are hardly a great advertisment for your opinion.

John Smith wrote on May 15^th, 2017 at 4:45pm:


Which part?

The latter is self evident if you travel around the World.

  Do you think that because I have a strong sense of whats right or wrong I must be religious? 

longweekend58 wrote on May 16^th, 2017 at 9:55am:


    

Prime Minister for Canyons wrote on May 16^th, 2017 at 11:31am:

longweekend58 wrote on May 16^th, 2017 at 9:55am:



It always amuses me how you resort to calling people stupid when you have been bested. It's almost like you believe it.

Are you seriously suggesting that many people who are raised religious do not reject their religion when they grow up? Seriously?

I wonder where all the atheists and agnostics come from then? Considering, of course:


STEADY DECLINES:
The proportion of Australians identifying Christianity as their religion has been declining over the last century – from 96% in 1911 to 61.1% in the 2011 Census. Over the last decade, Christianity in Australia has declined from 68% to 61.1%.


http://mccrindle.com.au/the-mccrindle-blog/a-demographic-snapshot-of-christianit...

Prime Minister for Canyons wrote on May 16^th, 2017 at 11:31am:



Yadda is hardly a sample of what to find in the average Christian.

longweekend58 wrote on May 16^th, 2017 at 1:44pm:




No but I reject the fact you need to be religious to be happy or be atheist to be unhappy same with morality.

mothra wrote on May 16^th, 2017 at 1:59pm:


'global growth' is defined as the net movement across the globe. THIS sort of ignorance is why you are considered stupid.

mothra wrote on May 17^th, 2017 at 1:11pm:


Allow me to walk you through it. You claimed:

" rapid growth of the Christian church outside of the west and the largely static (ie not reducing) count in the west."

I have proved that the numbers of Christians have not remained static in Australia. Numbers are on the decline. If you weren't so ignorant, you'd know that the same is demonstrably true across the western world. In the US, for example, two thirds of Millennials claim "no religion".

As for globally, Islam is the religion that is on the rise. It's projected to reach parity with Christianity by 2050, or thereabouts. By your line of, shall we call it, reasoning, Muslims must be right. Time to convert, Longy? Christianity is, globally, projected to decline.

"Over the coming decades, Christians are expected to experience the largest net losses from switching. Globally, about 40 million people are projected to switch into Christianity, while 106 million are projected to leave, with most joining the ranks of the religiously unaffiliated."

[url]http://www.pewforum.org/2015


One of the problems with those statistics is ironically indicated by the domain name 'pew forum'.  By far the fastest growing Christian group in Australia (and in the West) are the pentecostal (who dont sit in pews!), contemporary churches. My church alone in Little Adelaide has 5000 members. But many of these surveys cover catholic, anglican, lutheran and a few others which are all dropping badly while excluding the growing ones. The reasons are largely doctrinal, but persist just the same.

Like it or not, the  Christian Church globally is growing in a massive way.

And were i to use your own rather unsophisticated "debating" technique against you, Longy, i would say that you assessing global numbers of Christians by the attendance rates of your own church is merely "speaking from your own experience" and therefore inadmissible.

And then i would call you stupid and ignorant.