I wrote recently about President Trump’s remarks at the annual Prayer Breakfast. In addition to disrespecting his office and prayer, he also called for the repeal of the Johnson Amendment. Briefly it states that churches and other tax exempt organizations cannot participate in a political election and cannot endorse a candidate.

Evangelical Christians like Jerry Falwell, Jr. oppose the Johnson Amendment as limiting his free speech. We disagree on this point, but I’ll get to that later.

Right now there is a clear divide. You can belong to a church and contribute, and you can deduct those donations on your tax return. Essentially our government encourages us to belong to places of worship and donate to charities. And if you want to contribute to a political campaign, you can do that but you can’t deduct those monies.

But if places of worship can take political stands, it won’t take long for overtly political groups to claim that they are churches.

Don’t believe me? Let’s look back at Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission. In 2010 the Supreme Court held that corporations and unions are “persons” and are protected by the First Amendment. This led to an explosion of “social welfare groups,” or 501(c)(4) groups. Political campaigns recognized that they could set up a 501(c)(4) social welfare groups without having to disclose who is supporting them (as do Super PACs). This essentially allowed wealthy people to donate to someone’s campaign anonymously. They specifically avoided transparency.

So how do you create a church and register it so your parishioners can deduct their contributions on their tax returns? It’s actually pretty easy, and you can walk through the process on the IRS page. Nowhere does it say anything about beliefs or teachings, or doctrine.

Earlier I spoke about disagreeing with Jerry Falwell, Jr. Here’s why: I’ve spent nearly all my adult life in the world of religion. Since 1980 I’ve been a seminarian, a youth minister, a director of religious education, a deacon, a priest, and a hospice chaplain. During all that time I’ve been identified by my role. I’ve also been a registered voter since 1978. People who know me have known my political views, and how those views have changed over the years. As an American I’ve been enthusiastic about my personal political views.

But from day one I’ve recognized that when I’m representing my church I cannot and should not tell others how they should vote. When I’ve preached, in any venue, I’ve recognized that I serve those I preach to. I care deeply about their moral compass and how they make decisions, but I care not at all about who they vote for. The Johnson amendment protects members who love what their pastor preaches and disagrees with who their pastor votes for. As Americans we need this distinction.

I call all of of us to oppose the repeal of the Johnson amendment.