Issues@Hand

AFA initiatives, Christian activism, news briefs

September 2015 – Good News Community Church in Gilbert, Arizona, filed suit against a city ordinance that permitted the church to display its sign only from Saturday evening until Sunday morning. After eight years of court battles, on June 18, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled unanimously in the church’s favor. Alliance Defending Freedom represented the church.

“The court said the government has no authority to weigh what speech is more important and preferred,” said ADF attorney Jeremy Tedesco. “The case clarifies confusion in the law about how that test is applied.” 

Ironically, the government showed startling leniency to another “church” in Indianapolis, Indiana, when the IRS granted nonprofit, tax-exempt status to the First Church of Cannabis, which focuses on the use of marijuana. 

Liberty Counsel attorney Harry Mihet said the IRS has made it difficult on true churches to receive tax-exempt status.  

“The agency has become a hammer that’s being used against conservatives and religious groups,” he said. “At the same time, they are bestowing tax exemptions for all sorts of groups that clearly do not deserve them.” 

onenewsnow.com, 6/12/15; 6/19/15