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{"source_url": "https://www.bizpacreview.com", "url": "https://www.bizpacreview.com/2020/01/01/atheist-group-sends-demand-to-irs-to-investigate-miami-megachurch-over-trump-rally-870762", "title": "Atheist group sends demand to IRS to investigate Miami megachurch over Trump rally", "top_image": "https://www.bizpacreview.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/SG-Guillermo-Maldonado.jpg", "meta_img": "https://www.bizpacreview.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/SG-Guillermo-Maldonado.jpg", "images": ["https://www.bizpacreview.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/dennis-prager_thumb.jpg", "https://www.bizpacreview.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/Jeffrey.jpg", "https://www.bizpacreview.com/wp-includes/images/prod/bpr-header-logo_300x70.png", "https://www.bizpacreview.com/wp-content/uploads/gravatar/updated-profile-1.jpg", "https://www.bizpacreview.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/john-r-smith-1.jpg", "https://pixel.quantserve.com/pixel/p-Dtct-qT5AdqKX.gif", "https://www.bizpacreview.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/SG-King-Jesus-church-2.jpg", "https://www.bizpacreview.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/BPR-Parler-Follow.jpg", "https://www.bizpacreview.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/stephen-moore.jpg", "https://www.bizpacreview.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/SG-Guillermo-Maldonado.jpg", "https://www.bizpacreview.com/wp-includes/images/prod/bpr-footer-logo_400x95.png", "https://www.bizpacreview.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/tucker-carlson-and-neil-patel.jpg", "https://d5nxst8fruw4z.cloudfront.net/atrk.gif?account=pzIVl1aE+GW1fn", "https://bat.bing.com/action/0?ti=5683339&Ver=2", "https://www.bizpacreview.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/michelle-malkin_thumb.jpg", "https://www.bizpacreview.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/chuck-norris_thumb.jpg", "https://www.facebook.com/tr?id=1458166587830507&ev=PageView&noscript=1", "https://www.bizpacreview.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/pastor.jpg"], "movies": [], "text": "An atheist group is demanding that the Internal Revenue Service investigate a rally in support of President Donald Trump which is planned to be held at a Florida church.\n\nThe Freedom From Religion Foundation argued in a letter to the IRS that a Miami megachurch is in violation of the Johnson Amendment by hosting the planned Friday rally for Trump who is launching the \u201cEvangelicals for Trump\u201d at the event.\n\nRebecca Markert, the legal director of the nonprofit group that advocates the separation of church and state, claimed that Ministerio Internacional El Rey Jes\u00fas (King Jesus International Ministry) is crossing the political line in holding the event.\n\n\u201cFFRF respectfully request that the IRS commence an immediate investigation into King Jesus Ministry\u2019s violation prohibiting 501(c)(3) organizations from participating in and/or intervening in a political campaign,\u201d Markert wrote in a letter to the IRS\u2019s Acting Director of Exempt Organizations Examinations Mary A. Epps. \u201cThe IRS should take appropriate action to remedy any violations that occurred or which continue to occur.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhile leaders of churches or religious organizations may express their opinions on political matters as individuals, they are, according to this rule, precluded from making \u2018partisan comments in official organization publications or at official functions of the organization,\u2019\u201d she wrote.\n\nMarkert added that \u201cin urging congregants to come to a political rally, and in hosting the political rally,\u201d Pastor Guillermo Maldonado \u201cinappropriately used [his] religious organization and 501(c)(3) status by intervening in a political campaign.\u201d\n\nThe church, she asserted,\u201d violated IRS regulations by seemingly expressing its support for a candidate in the November 2020 presidential election.\u201d\n\nMaldonado, a Honduran evangelical pastor, invited his parishioners to the event which will include over 70 Evangelical leaders. He sought to quell fears raised by many of the church\u2019s members who are undocumented immigrants.\n\n\u201cYou don\u2019t have to be a citizen. And I will give you an affirmation as your spiritual father and your pastor,\u201d he said during a church service on Sunday, according to The Miami Herald. \u201cI ask you: Do you think I would do something where I would endanger my people? I\u2019m not that dumb.\u201d\n\n\u201cI don\u2019t think the president would do such a thing,\u201d he told parishioners. \u201cDon\u2019t put your race or your nationality over being a Christian. Be mature \u2026 If you want to come, do it for your pastor. That\u2019s a way of supporting me.\u201d\n\nTrump announced the \u201cEvangelicals for Trump\u201d group after a biting editorial in a Christian magazine called for Trump\u2019s impeachment last month. Christianity Today\u2019s editor-in-chief attacked Trump\u2019s character and his morals in the scathing piece siding with Democrats to remove the president from office.\n\nRev. Franklin Graham, whose father the late Rev. Billy Graham started the publication, blasted the magazine for being \u201cused by the left for their political agenda.\u201d\n\nFranklin Graham fires back after Christian mag his father founded denounces Trump in stunning op-ed https://t.co/J30YukZwpz \u2014 Conservative News (@BIZPACReview) December 20, 2019\n\nMeanwhile, the Miami pastor hosting Trump\u2019s event on January 3rd, made it clear that the church was not providing any of the financing or organization for the rally. Those wishing to attend the rally have to pre-register with the Trump campaign and all of the services the church, except for a New Year\u2019s Eve mass on Tuesday, were canceled as Secret Service came on the scene too.", "keywords": [], "meta_keywords": [""], "tags": [], "authors": ["Frieda Powers", "Michelle Malkin", "Dennis Prager", "Stephen Moore", "Tucker Carlson", "Neil Patel", "Terence Jeffrey", "Chuck Norris", "John R. Smith"], "publish_date": "Wed Jan 1 00:00:00 2020", "summary": "", "article_html": "", "meta_description": "The atheist Freedom From Religion Foundation asked the IRS to investigate a Florida church for hosting a rally supporting President Trump.", "meta_lang": "en", "meta_favicon": "https://www.bizpacreview.com/wp-content/themes/bizpac-theme/images/bpr-favicon.png", "meta_data": {"viewport": "width=device-width, initial-scale=1", "msvalidate.01": "7B72A45596C9A09925CC7A99E8CA8016", "alexaVerifyID": "qC73ojZoktel85cbl12SAFJar9k", "fb": {"pages": "169204449790211,508887815910815", "app_id": 293475294100495}, "description": "The atheist Freedom From Religion Foundation asked the IRS to investigate a Florida church for hosting a rally supporting President Trump.", "robots": "max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1", "og": {"locale": "en_US", "type": "article", "title": "Atheist group sends demand to IRS to investigate Miami megachurch over Trump rally", "description": "The atheist Freedom From Religion Foundation asked the IRS to investigate a Florida church for hosting a rally supporting President Trump.", "url": "https://www.bizpacreview.com/2020/01/01/atheist-group-sends-demand-to-irs-to-investigate-miami-megachurch-over-trump-rally-870762", "site_name": "BizPac Review", "image": {"identifier": "https://www.bizpacreview.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/SG-Guillermo-Maldonado.jpg", "secure_url": "https://www.bizpacreview.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/SG-Guillermo-Maldonado.jpg", "width": 484, "height": 259}}, "article": {"publisher": "https://www.facebook.com/ConservativeNewsToday/", "section": "News", "published_time": "2020-01-01T16:01:38+00:00"}, "twitter": {"card": "summary_large_image", "description": "The atheist Freedom From Religion Foundation asked the IRS to investigate a Florida church for hosting a rally supporting President Trump.", "title": "Atheist group sends demand to IRS to investigate Miami megachurch over Trump rally", "site": "@bizpacreview", "image": "https://www.bizpacreview.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/SG-Guillermo-Maldonado.jpg", "creator": "@bizpacreview"}, "generator": "WordPress 5.0.8", "onesignal": "wordpress-plugin", "msapplication-TileImage": "https://www.bizpacreview.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/cropped-BPR-270x270.png"}, "canonical_link": "https://www.bizpacreview.com/2020/01/01/atheist-group-sends-demand-to-irs-to-investigate-miami-megachurch-over-trump-rally-870762"} |
