Plenty of people have weighed in on the 2016 elections — and [Sunday], that chorus included pastors! Clergy across the country preached loudly and proudly about the issues, the importance of voting, and even — yes — the political races in their areas. As part of Pulpit Freedom Sunday, they dared the IRS to come after them for speaking out in direct defiance of the Johnson Amendment, which liberals have twisted into a license to intimidate and silence churches on the important topics of the day. As we have every year since 2008, FRC and our friends at Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) encouraged tens of thousands of pastors to freely use their voice as God intended it: as the moral conscience of their people.

Unfortunately for America’s faithful, the Johnson Amendment was never intended to be used as a weapon against the church — but, like many laws over the years, the interpretation of the 62-year-old language has changed. When the evangelical movement’s influence increased, so did the Left’s attacks. And as a result, some on the Left are using the law to intimidate pastors. Some pastors are shrinking back from their call to provide moral clarity — afraid of the government’s punishment to address our cultural chaos. That changes now, say conservatives like House Majority Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.) and Rep. Jody Hice (R-Ga.). Hoping to harness the growing recognition of this blatant attack on religious liberty, the duo introduced the Free Speech Fairness Act two days before Pulpit Freedom Sunday kicked off.

“The IRS doesn’t feed the hungry. The IRS doesn’t comfort the hurting. And the IRS definitely doesn’t heal the broken,” ADF explains. “A pastor’s pulpit should be accountable to God alone, and the future of religious freedom in America depends on it.” Surely, Erik Stanley says, both sides can agree: the IRS has no business being the speech police! GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump certainly hasn’t left any doubts about where he stands on the amendment — most recently, at a forum that I moderated with retired military leaders today. (Listen here at 43:13.)

“It’s very unfair what they’re doing to religion in this country… We have the Johnson Amendment. You know Lyndon Johnson in the 1950s passed an amendment — because, supposedly, he was having a hard time with a church in Houston with a pastor. And he passed an amendment saying basically, if you’re a pastor, if you’re a religious person, you cannot get up and talk politics… So I started studying it, and I had a meeting a month later, and I said, ‘We’re going to get rid of the Johnson Amendment, because they’re stopping you [the pastors] and our great people from talking. And Tony, and others, these are the people we have to hear from. And we want to hear from. They’re stopping you from speaking, and yet your opposing views can speak, because they don’t have to worry about tax exempt things. So I think it’s very unfair. One of the things I will do very early in my administration is get rid of the Johnson Amendment so that our great pastors and ministers and rabbis and everybody can… participate in the process.”

As I told CNN, pastors have a biblical responsibility to speak to their congregation and help them understand the issues and how they line up with Scripture. All the church is doing is tackling biblical issues like life and human sexuality and marriage, explaining what the Bible has to say about them, and juxtaposing that with the candidates’ positions. Nothing more, nothing less. And if there’s one thing every pastor should know after [Sunday], it’s that you don’t need a Pulpit Freedom Sunday to preach the truth!

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Originally published here.

Trump Stands Shoulder to Soldier in Veterans’ Town Hall

President Obama waited seven and a half years to schedule a town hall meeting with U.S. troops. But the man vying for his job didn’t even wait to get elected to hold his! At a meeting [Monday], facilitated in part by FRC’s Lt. General Jerry Boykin (U.S. Army-Ret.) and me, Donald Trump talked with the Retired American Warriors PAC about his plans for beefing up a military decimated and demoralized after two terms of severe cutbacks and radical social engineering. America’s Armed Forces, which are literally scavenging plane parts from museums, are fed-up with Obama’s mission of political correctness and hungry for real leadership in defeating radical Islam and the other threats left to flourish under this administration.

During today’s dialogue, which General Boykin and I moderated, Donald Trump explained the sharp contrast between his approach and the Obama/Clinton vision for our military. “We have a politically correct military that is getting more and more politically correct every day, and a lot of people in this room don’t even understand how it’s possible to do that. And that is through intelligence — not ignorance — believe me, because some of the things they are asking you to do and be politically correct about are ridiculous.”

When it comes to controversial issues like drafting our daughters or open transgenderism, Trump vowed to follow the recommendations of military leaders — something this administration has refused to do. Among other things, he pledged to ramp up America’s cybersecurity, “wipe out the Islamic State terror group and ensure that veterans receive the care they deserve.” Drawing a clear line of distinction with the current commander-in-chief, Trump reassured the brave men and women who have honorably served their country, “We will build our military forces to a level that will be, I believe, stronger than ever before if I become president of the United States.” Today’s discussion with military leaders once again underscores what is at stake in this election — America’s safety and security!

Originally published here.

In Gender Wars, Pope Springs Eternal

Americans aren’t the only ones frustrated by this be-whatever-gender-you-feel-like-today craziness! Across the Atlantic, Pope Francis had plenty to say about this misguided campaign to reinvent what God created. In a meeting Saturday with a few hundred priests and religious leaders, he sounded the alarm on one of the greatest threats to the family today. “A great enemy of marriage today is the theory of gender. Today, there is a global war trying to destroy marriage… they don’t destroy it with weapons, but with ideas. It’s certain ideological ways of thinking that are destroying it… We have to defend ourselves from ideological colonization.”

At least one state is trying! North Carolina Governor Pat McCrory (R), who’s found himself in the political hot seat since standing against a bathroom, locker room and shower ordinance that two-thirds of the state called “unreasonable” and “unsafe.” After a months-long barrage by the media, cultural bullies, and Hollywood, McCrory isn’t changing his tune. In fact, he’s calling on people to join him.

“One thing I’ve told a lot of people is we have to have the silent majority quit whispering. They talk too softly about their support [for common sense laws protecting privacy and safety], and they need to speak out now because what’s happening in America and what’s happening in North Carolina, the only people you hear from is the media. And the only people you hear from protesting in the street or on our universities are people on the very far Left who disagree with people of faith on many issues. But we’re not hearing from the silent majority. They’re too quiet right now. Therefore, the impression of the independent voter is, ‘Well, the loud people must represent the majority,’ and we’re going to find out this election. It’s going to be very interesting.”

Asked in the same interview with “The Brody File” if he was reconsidering his position on H.B. 2, the bill that protects businesses from government punishment if they have policies that protect people’s safety and privacy. The answer was no surprise to anyone who’s followed the governor’s courageous stance over the past several months.

“No, not based on the concept of changing the definition of gender… And H.B.2 is actually relevant now, because the federal government has stepped in and ordered the definition of gender to be based on expression and identity. So, this whole focus on one bill is really a diversion… and the national media has no idea, and the people in the public have no idea, that this issue was started by the Left in the city of Charlotte by a very liberal mayor and by the attorney general that I’m running against, and by now President Obama and Hillary Clinton [are] supporting this concept also. It’s a major change in our moral fabric.”

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Originally published here.