IRS

One of the things I love about working at Americans United is the religious diversity, both among our staff and among the many people across the United States who fight alongside us for religious freedom for all people.

Though I know there are things we disagree on in terms of our religious beliefs, we are united in a common passion for a common goal – to ensure religious/philosophical freedom for all and to refuse to allow religion to be used to harm or discriminate against others.

There has been more debate than ever this campaign season about whether or not houses of worship should be permitted to endorse or oppose candidates for office. This is mostly thanks to Republican presidential nominee Donald J. Trump, who has repeatedly said that if he is elected he will end legal restrictions that keep churches from acting like political action committees.

A Democrat running for state office in New York said if elected, he’ll work to ensure that photos of same-sex couples do not appear in public school textbooks.

S.J. Jung is challenging incumbent state Sen. Toby Ann Stavisky (D-Queens) for her seat. Stavisky, who defeated Jung back in 2014, voted to legalize same-sex marriage in New York. It seems that move didn’t sit well with Jung, who is hoping to rally anti-gay voters to his cause.

Earlier this month, a church in Charlotte, N.C., raised eyebrows when its leaders announced that it would hold a “Day of Endorsement” for Republican presidential candidate Donald J. Trump.

With politics and religion intermingling quite a bit this campaign season, the Pew Research Center for Religion & Public Life decided to investigate how often pastors discuss politics and social issues from their pulpits. The results were pretty encouraging for those who believe churches should respect the law and stay away from activities designed to endorse or oppose candidates – but they also show there’s still a lot of work to be done.  

Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump reiterated his desire to change a federal law that prohibits houses of worship from endorsing candidates during his speech last night at the Republican National Convention (RNC).  

Trump said:

“At this moment, I would like to thank the evangelical community who have been so good to me and so supportive. You have so much to contribute to our politics, yet our laws prevent you from speaking your minds from your own pulpits.

The U.S. House of Representatives passed an important appropriations bill (H.R. 5485) yesterday that will help fund the federal government for the next year. Tucked into this legislation are three troubling provisions that would weaken church-state separation and harm true religious liberty.

Some members of Congress are working to limit true religious freedom.

A Florida rabbi may have lost his job because he protested Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump at a conference in Washington, D.C.

GOP presidential hopeful Donald Trump is awfully good at picking fights, and his latest opponent seems to be the Internal Revenue Service.

All high-profile presidential candidates are expected to release their tax returns at some point during the campaign, but Trump has yet to do so. He claims he can’t because he is a frequent target of audits, though it’s unclear why that would prevent him from showing his return to the public.

The state of New York has foreclosed on a virulently anti-LGBT church in New York City. DNAInfo New York reports that Atlah Worldwide Church and its pastor, the Rev. James Manning, owe $194,000 for unpaid water bills.