Democratic presidential candidate Beto O'Rourke's declaration churches should lose their tax-exempt status if they do not agree with same-sex marriage drew quick rebuttals from Southern Baptist leaders and others.
Southern Baptist ethicist Russell Moore called O'Rourke's comments "alarming because they represent precisely what those on his side of these issues have said for years that they are not seeking to do."
"Tax exemption for churches is not a 'reward,' but a recognition that the power to tax is the power to destroy," said Moore, president of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, in written comments for Baptist Press. "And, indeed, with these comments Congressman O'Rourke threatens to destroy every church, synagogue or other religious institution that does not adopt his viewpoint on sexual ethics over and against their own traditions and authoritative texts. That is not the American...