Readers React: Going after churches’ tax-exempt status

To the editor: The Times says the First Amendment Defense Act isn’t necessary because there is no chance that churches will lose their tax exemption. It cites the American Civil Liberties Union as noting that since 1983, the Internal Revenue Service has made no such move against religious schools. (“Why there’s no need for the First Amendment Defense Act,” editorial, July 21)

In fact, in the late 1980s, the ACLU Foundation and the New York Civil Liberties Union filed an amicus brief in support of the Abortion Rights Mobilization to secure standing in its lawsuit directed at the tax-exempt status of the Catholic Church.

What the IRS will do is anyone’s guess, but history tells us that activist organizations with an animus against the Catholic Church will never let the church out of its sights, and this includes attacking its tax-exempt status.

Bill Donohue, New York City

The writer is president of the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights.

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