The Freedom Freedom From Religion Foundation is asking the IRS to revoke the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association’s tax-exempt status due to the group’s recent illegal campaign intervention.
The association recently distributed a special election issue of its Decision magazine focused on the 2024 election, for which the cover page says “SOCIALISM VS. FREEDOM” with corresponding photos of Kamala Harris and Donald Trump. In an opening letter, President and CEO Franklin Graham denigrates the Democratic Party’s platform:
Progressive, liberal thought and activism have so contaminated the mainstream of American life and culture that once-unthinkable abominations such as same-sex marriage, abortion on demand and transgender advocacy have become dogma in one major party’s platform.
Graham then tells readers to “vote for candidates who best align with and stand for Biblical principles.” This is followed by a cherry-picked comparison between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump intended to encourage readers to vote for Trump over Harris. Outside of the comparison, the election guide includes a quote from Trump given at a Moms for Liberty event in June 2023:
Our enemies are waging a war on freedom and faith, on science and religion, on history and tradition, on law and democracy, on the family, on children, on America itself.
There is no reason for this quote to appear except to encourage readers to vote for Donald Trump. The overall takeaway from this election guide is that Christians should vote for Trump over Harris in the presidential election and Republicans in state and local elections. It shows a clear bias and preference for Trump and Republicans in the upcoming elections and is distributed for the purpose of intervening in these elections.
“The Internal Revenue Code states that to retain their 501(c)(3) status an organization cannot ‘participate in, or intervene in (including the publishing or distributing of statements), any political campaign on behalf of (or in opposition to) any candidate for public office,’” FFRF Staff Attorney Chris Line writes to the IRS. “In this instance, the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association has breached the responsibilities of its tax-exempt status by publishing an election guide that gives the clear impression that it favors one candidate over the other and one party over the other.”
FFRF is a registered 501(c)(3) and it takes this designation — along with the accompanying privileges and responsibilities — very seriously. The Billy Graham Evangelistic Association obviously doesn’t and that’s why donations made to the organization should no longer be treated as tax deductible. The IRS should immediately take all appropriate action to remedy any violations of 501(c)(3) regulations that occurred or which continue to occur.
“The Billy Graham Evangelistic Association is engaging in a blatant violation of its tax-exempt status,” says FFRF Co-President Annie Laurie Gaylor. “The IRS can’t permit it to engage in such open electioneering.”
The Freedom From Religion Foundation is a national nonprofit organization with 40,000 members across the country. Our purposes are to protect the constitutional principle of separation between state and church, and to educate the public on matters relating to nontheism.
