To the Editor:
The Johnson Amendment was introduced by then-Sen. Lyndon Johnson in a successful ploy to essentially silence his political conservative enemies.
The amendment basically passed under the radar at the time. To begin to say that religious organizations should not have the First Amendment right of free speech is ridiculous.
Tax-free status is given to religious organizations by the government not to prevent them from being able to speak, but to help defray all of the charitable works they do, for without them welfare and other government-support programs literally would be overwhelmed.
Remember, this was not as issue before 1954, when this amendment was added.
If people oppose free speech for religious groups because of government tax dollars, they also should oppose continuing to fund state-funded colleges and universities that apparently do not allow free speech.
Jim Gigl
McHenry
