A federal judge in Madison, Wisconsin recently ruled that the housing allowance provided to ministers under the federal tax code is unconstitutional.  The suit was brought by the far-Left Freedom from Religion Foundation.  

The U.S. Congress created the “parsonage allowance” in the IRS tax code in 1954.  It stipulates that an allowance paid to a “minister of the gospel” for rental or mortgage payments on a home is excluded from gross income for tax purposes.

Judge Barbara Crabb ruled that the exemption violates the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment because it “provides a benefit to religious persons and no one else.”

Crabb has a previous history of demonstrating hostility toward religion from the bench.  In 2010, she issued a remarkable decision that the National Day of Prayer was unconstitutional.  The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals later overturned her ruling.

Tony Perkins, President of the Family Research Council, says that Judge Crabb’s latest dictate reveals “a new level of supreme arrogance.”

“Society has long provided this tax housing allowance to clergy because of the tremendous benefit that churches in turn give to society,” Perkins says.  “Clergy help carry the burden of many social ills that would otherwise become the burden of taxpayers and the federal government.”

Dan Busby, president of the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability, says that the loss of the housing allowance would cause hardship to many ministers and congregations.

“For the most part, pastors across the country are compensated modestly for doing very demanding work.  So many members of the clergy have relied on this exclusion for decades.  It would be especially hurtful to retired clergy.”

In a move that indicates Judge Crabb realizes her latest decision may also be reversed, she has stayed enforcement of her ruling until an appeals court hears the case. 

Read more at ChristianPost.com.

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