The dishonor that was shown to President Donald J. Trump at his second inaugural prayer service was a disgrace. Much has been written about this. The Episcopalian priestess and radical leftist, Mariann Edgar Budde, should never have been allowed to politically chastise the president in front of the whole world and express her radical liberal grievances against his plans to protect children from the transgender agenda and stop unvetted foreigners from illegally pouring across America’s border.

And while MAGA supporters were rightfully stirred-up that an anti-Trumper was able to hijack an esteemed ceremonial event, traditionally held at the beginning of each presidency meant to honor our nation’s commitment to its biblical founding values, the wrong knee-jerk response from MAGA is to parrot the secular Left’s talking point that the church should have no role in politics.

It is the Democrats’ dream to keep pastors — who preach biblical truths (unlike Ms. Budde) — muzzled by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) forever; something they have been able to do since 1954.

That’s when Lyndon B. Johnson (LBJ) was the Democratic Majority Leader in the U.S. Senate and was able to pass into federal law his “Johnson Amendment,” which allowed the IRS for the first time in America to restrict what pastors can and cannot say at the pulpit about political affairs. (LBJ’s motivation was evidently to silence his political opposition.) So, if pastors do not obey, the IRS will take away a church’s 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status, a punishment not all churches can financially survive.

It is worth noting that not long after LBJ’s muzzle on pastors’ free speech was implemented, secularists in the 1960s were able to have the Bible and prayer removed from our public schools. And since then, we’ve had to grapple with secularists to keep pornographic materials off school library shelves.

What also occurred in the ’60s is that LBJ and the Democrats implemented the so-called Great Society, which created our enormous federal government welfare system and incentivized women to have children out-of-wedlock. This happened to occur around the same time as the hippie Sexual Revolution when birth control became available and promiscuity was promoted.

It would have to be willful ignorance not to realize that it is because of this stream of events that our society has fallen deep into moral decay, which all stems back to the beginning when pastors were silenced and suppressed by LBJ’s Johnson Amendment.

This is why MAGA supporters should realize that nothing good has come from the Johnson Amendment and that it needs to be repealed, permanently.

The absence of common-sense voices representing biblical values is a void that has allowed radical leftists ideologues, like Budde, to fill and dominate every sect of our public square.

The transgender movement, which Budde so passionately advocates for, has been advanced through a secular propaganda campaign that has pummeled children with the evil lie that a boy can become a girl and vice-versa. Victims are now revealing in lawsuits against their perpetrators that behind closed doors, children as young as 12 are being manipulated to have barbaric surgery that permanently mutilates their bodies. 

This is atrocious. The question that should be asked is: How much of the secular agenda, particularly the perverse sexual campaigns that have targeted children, could have been halted if biblically-grounded pastors had never been forced by LBJ to forfeit their voices from the political forum and rendered unable to stand up for truth?

This includes the ability to endorse and speak about candidates running for government office. When pastors are free from the IRS threat to call out public officials who support and implement demonic policies, such as transgenderism, it will be children who benefit most.

In other words, the IRS should have zero role in censoring pastors. It should be up to congregants themselves to make that decision if their pastor’s political views align with Scripture. That was the American way up until LBJ got involved.

Thankfully, President Trump recognizes that the Johnson Amendment is unconstitutional and vowed during his campaign that he will again work to repeal it, as he did in his first White House through an executive order. Even better news is that the White House has just announced the launch of its Faith Office which will be a friend and not an enemy to churches. And with Republicans controlling both the Senate and House, we have a real chance to make repeal of this heinous IRS weapon permanent.

All patriots should join me in calling for the repeal of LBJ’s Johnson Amendment. For the sake of our nation’s children, American pastors need to be fully reengaged in our nation’s public forum. 

John K. Amanchukwu Sr. is an influential preacher, author, and activist who spreads God’s truth. Along with serving his local church in North Carolina, John travels nationally to speak, preach and confront school boards.