There is no test for declaring your organization as a religion. So, we have the church of Satan. There are still rules about what churches can do.
Yet churches are allowed to influence people politically so I don’t know where you’re going with this.
They are not allowed to endorse candidates or make political contributions
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Yet, some enjoy doing it anyway. Many think they have a friend in SCOTUS these days. And they’re right.
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No churches are doing this, so what’s the problem?
I love it when you admit you don’t read the links. The first one, in the first few paragraphs, is a guy who does and admits he’s doing while he does. It’s why FFRF exists.
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Those are individual pastors rather than organized church leadership, but maybe that is close enough for the IRS.
Oh, but they do! Not all, but many do.
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What else would it be other than individuals? Note their bosses arent sanctioning them either.
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Wow, that’s interesting. Thanks didn’t know about them.
Looks like an excellent resource.
Helping Americans Remember
and Preserve the True History
of Our Great NationFind all the education, training, and resources you need if you’re an
educator, church leader, legislator, or anyone who just wants to
discover more.
I already said the leadership of the particular religion. There’s a hierarchy of clergy with different responsibilities, e.g. catholic bishops will handle a certain jurisdiction. If one priest gets in trouble, his superiors say we’re not about this, we’re about that.
However, if these megachurches have their own rules then they probably don’t care since nobody is going to be arrested.
Update…
To see the money/power (Billions of dollars!) behind the Christian Nationalists movement, check these out:
That last one funds those “He Gets Us” ads we’ve all seen lately.
Religious zealots are much more likely to send money to these organizations than those of us science and reason types are to send money to CFI, Americans United, or FFRF.
By definition, reasonable people cannot be zealots. So, how do we get excited enough about science and reason before it’s too late and the zealots take over? Or will the religious fanaticism just blow over as it has in the past? Are we doomed to this stupid cycle, time and again?
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I think the bigger challenge is not becoming the thing you are fighting against. Basically every violent revolution sees the new boss, same as the old boss.
I don’t think it ever blows over. It looks like it, but it just goes underground. Today, we see the co-optation. Religions claiming they were about science and peace all along.
I have faith in humanity. If we hadn’t evolved to care for our grandchildren we wouldn’t have got this far. Cultures survive governments. I can read the wisdom of the ages in a handheld device. Peace is literally in my hand.
I think we do have to emulate some of what we are fighting against. We need more NDTs, Carl Sagans, Bill Nyes, Richard Fienmans, or one of my favorites, Brian Cox. We really need to get kids excited about science.
No you don’t. You know we have no free will and what will be will be. You just hope it’s not too bad. 
At any moment, an idiot running a government can fire off his nukes and melt your handheld device and your hands.
No one said life was easy. A few centuries ago, you could be walking down the street minding your own business and be dead the next second and there would be no justice, no consequences. Your odds of living past 40 are a lot better now.
No one said life was going to be easy.
All of that is true. But a few centuries ago we could not annihilate our species.
Does that pic mean no one is listening or no one’s talking? Confused, I am.
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Some people thought the ultimate weapon would end war. Naive maybe. Or, we made to many of them. My point was, overall, we are healthier and safer. We haven’t applied our technology well, but now we can do things like end hunger if we had the political will. And the second point is, there is still evil, there is still stupidity, because we are still human.