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{"id":6546,"date":"2013-11-25T15:09:37","date_gmt":"2013-11-25T19:09:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/anxiousbench\/?p=6546"},"modified":"2013-11-25T15:45:31","modified_gmt":"2013-11-25T19:45:31","slug":"clergy-housing-allowances-ruled-unconstitutional","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/anxiousbench\/2013\/11\/clergy-housing-allowances-ruled-unconstitutional\/","title":{"rendered":"Clergy Housing Allowances Ruled Unconstitutional"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Last week came the news that, in the latest legal success for secularist advocacy groups, a federal judge ruled<\/a> that clergy\u2019s tax-exempt \u201chousing allowance\u201d is unconstitutional. It is difficult to know exactly what the Founders would have thought of this issue, because a) there was no federal income tax until the early 20th century and b) there were no secularist advocacy groups suing over the public role of religion in 1776. However, this seems like another example of secularist overreach, with the judge implying that the government should prefer the absence of religion over its presence. The Founders \u2013 ALL of them \u2013 also recognized the beneficent role of religious groups in American life. When you consider that about half of the major Founders supported direct state (not national) support for religion, it is no stretch to think that they would have supported this kind of indirect support for clergy and congregations.<\/p>\n

Certain evangelicals applauded the judge\u2019s decision, saying that the policy really is unconstitutional, and that any kind of government support for religion corrupts the faith. I admit that I could see the point here, especially if the government started attaching more strings to the tax exemption. (A congregation can already lose tax-exempt status for \u201cpolitical\u201d activity, and one can imagine the government threatening the loss of tax exemption for certain \u201cintolerant\u201d opinions, too.) But I also would encourage the evangelical critics to be careful about jumping on board with the secularists here. Given all the evidence of the Founders\u2019 comfort with direct<\/em> support for religion, should we really accept the secularists\u2019 notion that tax exemptions for clergy are unconstitutional<\/em>?<\/p>\n

Remember, no clergy have to accept the tax exemption, and prudence would dictate that, if at all possible, pastors treat the exemption like Social Security benefits \u2013 realistically, they may well disappear. But\u00a0especially for pastors of small churches, the exemption could really be a make-or-break deal financially.\u00a0So, laypeople, before you applaud the secularists\u2019 victory \u2013 which is of course subject to appellate review \u2013 ask yourself whether you\u2019re prepared to cover the difference if your own pastor loses the housing allowance exemption?<\/p>\n

Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, \u201c ERLC and Guidestone United in Protecting Pastors\u2019 Housing Allowance<\/a>\u201d<\/p>\n

Joe Carter, \u201c Federal Judge Declares Clergy Housing Exemption To Be Unconstitutional<\/a>\u201c<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"