By Rev. Mario Gonzalez Jr., Esq.
“The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for
good men to do nothing.” Edmund Burke
I write this, not as a pastor, but as an attorney, concerned
citizen, and most importantly as a Christian.
While I understand that the church may not officially attempt to
influence legislation without endangering its tax exempt status, the church may
well be in a catch 22 situation here.
After the decision in Obergefell
v. Hodges, the church and overall faith community had clearly been put on
notice that they are facing a very real and present danger of losing public
funding for any community based initiative that they might seek to undertake,
as well as their tax exempt status, an act which will then both impose
corporate taxation of any income received by the church beyond that required to
cover expenses at the highest corporate tax rate in the world (on tithes and offerings),
as well as the taxation of all presently tax-exempt real property owned by the
church.
The end game, now being masterfully implemented by a Justice
Department emboldened by the most liberal, anti-church president in U.S.
history, is to criminalize orthodox Christian/Jewish/Muslim behavior by falsely
alleging that such behavior, protected by the First Amendment, is violative of
the federal Civil Rights Act and federal law, and and then shoving the SCOTUS holding
in Bob Jones University v. United States,
461 U.S. 574 (1983) down the collective orthodox throats of the faith community.
Once this strategy is fully implemented, it will lead to the
closing of countless churches and other houses of worship throughout the United
States. Why? Because many small congregations of all orthodox faiths throughout
the U.S. are presently barely able to meet their monthly mortgage payments or
even to pay their ministers, let alone pay high corporate taxes on their income
and property taxes on their real estate holdings. Many have survived by helping
their communities through community initiatives subsidized by public grants.
This will SHORTLY no longer be possible.
North Carolina’s legal action affords the faith community
their collective “LAST LEGAL STAND.” The legal tide can be turned in this new
case by use of the SCOTUS holding in Washington
v. Davis, 426 U.S. 229 (1976) which differentiates discriminatory
"intent" from discriminatory "effect." The key is
understanding the fact that though the so called “bathroom” law may be regarded
by some, or perhaps by many, as arising from discriminatory intent, if it can
be legally proven that it is in fact based on a concern over public safety and
state economic concerns and not as a result of an intent to discriminate, both
areas that fall under the protection and purview of state law, then the law
would not be considered unconstitutional and would be upheld.
Contrary to what is being promoted by the media and interest
groups who could care less what the majority of parents in the United States
desire for the protection of their children, parents, and houses of worship, the
North Carolina law is admittedly based on the realistic understanding that it
is a State’s right and responsibility to protect its citizenry from perceived
dangers. In this case, protecting both children and the elderly from individuals
who may gain access to public restrooms by falsely claiming to identify as
women simply to use the access then granted to hurt innocents. In terms of
“numbers,” simply citing the absence of documented cases to justify the public concern
is inadequate, as only minimum scrutiny is required for laws imposed by the
government in order to protect public safety and the economic well-being of the
state. If only a few of the vulnerable parties may rationally be hurt by not
imposing the new law, this is good enough legally. That is, the State must simply
show that the law is rationally related to achieving a legitimate government end.
If the local church remains silent at this juncture for the sake of political
correctness, it will solely be responsible for is own very quiet economic demise.
#gonzlawgroup
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