By Will Hall, Message Editor The ministerial housing allowance allowed by the IRS has been upheld by the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago after being struck down for the second time by the same federal jurist for the Western District of Wisconsin. U.S. District Court Judge Barbara Crabb, appointed in 1979 by President Jimmy Carter, had ruled in 2017 and before that in 2013, that the housing allowance was a violation of the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment in the U.S. Constitution. In the first case, the 7th Circuit Court ruled that the Freedom from Religion Foundation, an atheist group which brought the suit, did not have standing because they could not show harm from the benefit being extended to clergy. But the court did not rule on the constitutionality of the housing allowance. This time, FFRF executives applied for the housing allowance and were denied the benefit that permits “ministers of the gospel” to deduct housing-related expenses from their taxable income when filing with the IRS. But a three-judge panel, all Republican appointees, was not sympathetic to the FRFF’s claim that the Internal Revenue Code 107(2) tax break for religious leaders effectively “renders unto God that which … [Read more...]

By Will Hall, Message Editor ALEXANDRIA (LBM) ­­‑ Congress is considering legislation known as the Equality Act that Christian leaders say contains provisions which would marginalize the religious rights of people of faith in favor of those who identify as LGBT. Filed as H.R. 5, the bill would force business owners such as bakers and florists in the wedding industry to provide services that celebrate gay marriage, they said. Likewise, Christian hospitals would be mandated to perform sex reassignment surgery, and religious schools would have to abandon conduct codes and hiring standards that support their spiritual missions. Meanwhile, women athletes would have to compete against biological men who wish to identify as females. The bill would even regulate what pronouns have to be used when addressing someone who does not want to be identified with his or her biological sex. Importantly, parents could be compelled to allow children to undergo sex reassignments or face losing custody rights. In a letter, a coalition of 84 religious leaders urged Democrat and Republican leaders of the House Committee on the Judiciary to oppose the bill. The group assured the lawmakers that “people of faith … believe that all people … [Read more...]