WASHINGTON, D.C. (LBM) – Not even two weeks after tax day, the Satanic Temple, a self- described atheist group, celebrated that “for the very [first] time in history a satanic organization has been recognized by the United States federal government as being a church.” The categorization allows the Satanic Temple to receive tax-deductible charitable contributions. According to LifeSite- News.com, the Satanic Temple website clearly acknowledges it is not a religion per se and does not believe in Satan, but simply uses the name as a “symbol of the Eternal Rebel in opposition to arbitrary authority.” But the group argued to the IRS that the “narrative structure by which we contextualize our lives” and which gives members a “sense of identity, culture, community, and shared values” qualifies it as a religion. The surprise IRS announcement followed by a month or so the ruling by the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that denied the minister’s housing allowance benefit to another atheistic group, the Freedom From Religion Foundation based in Wisconsin. … [Read more...]

By Message Staff TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (LBM) – The chambers of Florida’s legislature have passed competing bills banning sanctuary cities in the state, with the House version imposing a $5,000-per- day fine for each day that a sanctuary-city policy is in place and including a rule to suspend or remove government employees or elected officials who defy the ban. But both bills require local and state law enforcement to honor any federal agency’s request for detention of any person believed to be a “removable alien” under federal immigration law. If the differences can be worked out, observers expect Gov. DeSantis to sign the reconciled bill into law, with Florida joining nine other states (Alabama, Arizona, Georgia, Iowa, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, Tennessee and Texas) to enact such a mandate. A 2017 bill that would have prohibited sanctuary cities in Louisiana was left to die in committee, but the impact of that legislative failure is uncertain. The Center of Immigration Studies lists New Orleans as a “sanctuary city,” however the city signed a 2012 federal consent decree with the U.S. Department of Justice Louisiana which governs its conduct with regard to reporting the immigration status of “victims or … [Read more...]