Twin Cities Faith Leaders React To Trump Comments At Prayer Breakfast
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- President Donald Trump says he wants to do away with political limits on churches. He says he can give churches religious freedom by getting rid of the Johnson Amendment.
The IRS regulation bars religious leaders and faith-based organizations from endorsing political candidates from the pulpit.
Speaking in front of faith leaders, and politicians President Donald Trump vowed to protect the rights of religious leaders to speak freely about politics from the pulpit.
"I will get rid of and totally destroy the Johnson Amendment, and allow our representatives of faith to speak freely and without fear of retribution," President Trump said Thursday morning.
The amendment is an IRS rule that keeps faith leaders from endorsing candidates or participating in political campaigns. If found in violation, the church risks losing its tax-exempt status.
"We don't want the church to ever control the state, and we never want the state to try and control the church," Pastor Judy Zabel said. "That's what religious freedom is all about."
Pastor Zabel leads thousands at Hennepin Avenue United Methodist Church.
"I'd be against repeal of the Johnson Amendment," she said. "Having said that though, I think the church is called to have a prophetic voice, to speak truth about loving one's neighbor with love."
Rev. Jerry McAfee, Pastor at New Salem Missionary Baptist Church, says he has always and will continue to preach about policies.
"My religion shapes my politics, and my politics don't shape my religion," he said. "It is incumbent upon me as the pastor to make sure the people God places me over are well informed."
McAfee says he does not need the approval of the president or anyone else to do what God leads him to do.
"What I don't want us to do as a people is play what I consider these political games, and wind up prostituting our faith for phony favor," he said.
Both McAfee and Zabel say at the end of the day, God doesn't care if you are a Republican or a Democrat -- what God really cares about is how well do you lover your neighbor.
Recent polls taken about the Johnson amendment show most people don't want to see it repealed, and President Trump has not said how he would go about getting rid of it.
