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• Today pastors do not have freedom of speech from behind the
pulpit. The current law in
the form of an IRS code is the cause of this lack of freedom. This law was inserted into the tax code by
Senator Lyndon Johnson in 1954. Until that time there were no restrictions
on the church’s role in politics. Although it probably was not “intended to target houses of worship,”[1] the law was intended to restrict organizations that
opposed Johnson’s reelection to the Senate. The reasons for this ban were
never properly debated or voted on as a separate issue.[2]
Lyndon
Johnson