In the run-up to the November election, Homer had some controversy about the presence of political signs on the property of one of the churches here. The pastor of that church chose not to respond to comments on social media to calm the situation. Now that the election is over, Pastor Mark Edens wishes to share his personal thoughts about the matter in this forum.
He has written the following letter, which has been published unedited and in its entirety. This letter is being shared in the hope that it will help to inform and encourage respectful dialogue between the different factions in this matter.
LETTER FROM MARK EDENS
December 5, 2024
To my fellow citizens,
I am Mark Edens, one of the pastors of Regent Life Church in Homer, and I am writing to a very torn and divided nation. It is now one month after our election and this battle continues. But I am full of hope. I am in fact projecting that the history books will one day look back on this time and declare it to be America’s Third Great Awakening. I am expecting an amazing unity to be birthed, and we will once again be boldly and joyfully pledging our allegiance as “…one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.”
I realize that not all will agree with me, both outside and inside the church, but I extend my hand to you and honor your unalienable right to freedom of conscience. To be clear, I am not representing any official position of the church. I am writing from my own personal perspective.
During the campaign for this recent election, it came to my attention that some in our town were quite concerned about the signs posted on the street corner supporting certain candidates. So, for those who are still curious why I posted those signs, please allow me to give an abbreviated explanation.
Yes, I am very aware of the Johnson Amendment which became a law in 1954 essentially saying that 501c3 entities cannot endorse candidates or openly support their campaign. Today, it is used as a billy club to restrain the clergy from freely speaking and entrap them in fear of losing their 501c3 status.
So, let me ask you a question: If there was a sign on the lawn that said, “Stay Off The Grass,” would you obey it? You probably would. At least I certainly would! But let’s say one day you are walking on the sidewalk, and you witness a man beating up a little girl right in the middle of that lawn. Would you obey the sign and stay off the grass? I would not! Everything in me would seek to protect that little girl, sign or no sign.
My point is, I believe some laws are higher than others, and in this case, the laws of love and protection far exceed the law on the grass.
In the same way, I believe the Johnson Amendment to be like the sign on the grass. If there is no issue on the lawn, by all means, stay off the grass. But my friends, our beloved nation has a huge issue on the lawn! The government’s job is to secure the rights of the people, providing safety and prosperity for its citizens. Instead, we are witnessing a tyrannical and corrupt government beating up on We The People.
I believe I have the duty to run past it and do my small part in standing up to the tyranny in the current establishment. Who knows? Perhaps it will be this case that will make it to the Supreme Court.
The highest law in our nation is the Constitution of the United States. The first amendment declares our unalienable God-given rights including freedom of religion, freedom of speech, and freedom of the press.
In my opinion, the Johnson Amendment violates these rights and is therefore unconstitutional. These rights and many others come from our Creator. The government did not give them to us and the government cannot take them away.
I am aware of hundreds of pastors who, several years ago, preached messages intentionally including political speech as well as endorsing candidates. They recorded their messages and sent them to the IRS in hopes of challenging the Johnson Amendment in court. The IRS did nothing about it. Can you guess why? Because they too know it is unconstitutional.
To be clear, it is not about Democrats versus Republicans. Rather, it’s about good versus evil. In my opinion, we have a government that calls evil good, and sees good as evil.
Now, my friends, the most common rationale in support of the Johnson Amendment is the misinterpreted and unconstitutional belief of “Separation of Church and State.” To those who feel I am breaching the constitutional law of the Separation of Church and State, please allow a little clarification… It’s not a law. It’s not even in the Constitution of the United States. And it’s not an amendment. Neither is it included in the Declaration of Independence. Even more, it is not found anywhere in the Federalist Papers which literally recorded all of the debates and discussions during the framing of the Constitution. It’s just not there. To be bold, I will personally give $1,000 to the first person who can show me that this phrase, “Separation of Church and State,” is in any of these founding documents. Go ahead and research it.
ALASKA WATCHMAN DIRECT TO YOUR INBOX
You will also discover that today’s interpretation of the separation of church and state is quite contrary to its literal meaning when Thomas Jefferson wrote it in his letter to the Danbury Baptists assuring them that government would not infringe on their freedom of religion. The highest law in our land says, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof…” The Johnson Amendment is such a law!
I hope that President Trump will be able to completely get rid of the Johnson Amendment as he has promised to do. Until then, I believe that churches must be proactive in matters of religious freedom. The most important thing for the church is to proclaim the Gospel of the Kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ.
The second most important thing is to fight for the freedom to do the most important thing.
Concerning the sign on the lawn (the Johnson Amendment), I believe I have the duty to run past it and do my small part in standing up to the tyranny in the current establishment. Who knows? Perhaps it will be this case that will make it to the Supreme Court.
Peace to All,
Pastor Mark
The views expressed here are those of the authors. Read more posts at Seward’s Folly substack.
36 Comments
A Big Thank You to Pastor Mark Edens for taking a stand and getting involved! We need more churches to take a stand.
good for you! Drawing this rare line in the sand finally puts Homer on the map and hopefully on a trajectory towards courage and truth in your historically Christian dysfunctional town!
And whose job is it to reach this “dysfunctional town.” Based on your statement, how well is what they are doing working?
I don’t know. I did my part!
Praise God and a great big hallelujah for Pastor Mark. I too serve as a pastor. I pastor a small church called “River of Life “in Trapper Creek Alaska. I agree 100% with Pastor Mark. The Johnson amendment is unconstitutional. … I also speak against the current administration because of its tyrannical ways and I feel it’s important that the people know the truth of the word of God and also the laws of the land … I stand with Pastor Mark in everything he says!!
My Prayers are with you!!!
The concept of our government neither supporting nor prohibiting a religion has been chewed on a thousand times. It is settled. Sorry Mark, but you failed to make your case (though the Keep Off The Grass is a good metaphor). You make a fatal logical error by claiming: “These rights and many others come from our Creator. The government did not give them to us and the government cannot take them away.” There is no evidence, let alone proof, that a creator exists nor that it can dole out rights to Christians and perhaps others. It’s easy to squash the supernatural claims of religionists, easy to show that religion is a choice, a fun and easy way of interpreting the world. As far as rights though, they are defined, approved and enforced by humans, mostly through collective governing units but also norms (like stay off the grass even if there is no sign). But no supernatural beliefs are required or welcome.
In theory, government exists to bring order and safety to all of us.
Jeff, the world you live in is finite, the here-after is forever. If you chose to believe there is no proof of a creator, then you are blind to all that is around you and that is your right. I don’t consider myself a christian, but I do believe in a creator. How could I not! Is there anything wrong in believing there is a difference between right and wrong? Where do you think that logic came from? Our rules and laws are based, or at least they were, on the Ten Commandments. In the past, Generations were brought up knowing the Ten Commandments. Today there is a part of our society that shuns, ignores, or are ignorant of the Ten Commandments, and our society is in peril with perversions of these recent government rules that you so easily what to accept.
Steve. Just for the heck of it, Google George Carlin Ten Commandments.
Steve. The concepts of right and wrong were not created by your religion. As an atheist, that’s offensive. But worse is your contradiction that religion created logic. That’s absurd. Full deployment of logic eviscerates EVERY supernatural claim in Christianity. That’s the value of logic, evidence-based, reasoned critical thinking.
One is given to wonder why an atheist inhabits this news blog. Butler overlooks the fact that God is all over the Declaration as Creator, Lawgiver, Provider and Judge. Even the Deists signed on to that. The foundational body that declared independence for 13 new nations was a POLITICAL one, and since the last state to divest itself of a tax-supported, official religion did so in 1833, Butler needs to brush up on his history. The 1st Amendment is for the FEDERAL gov’t to obey, NOT the states. Atheists must be admired for their courage, because they go one whistling in the dark even as their Judgment approaches. But in any case, left entirely unsaid is how black churches can broadcast their opinions from the pulpit with total immunity from the Johnson Amendment. I am all for that, because they have freedom of speech. The “two-tiered system of justice” did not begin with Biden-Harris, it only became more obvious.
Bird, like I said, there is no evidence or proof that a Christian god exists. If you’ve got evidence, please share. I’m not sure where you are headed with the first amendment and atheists and black churches and Biden-Harris.
Roman13 vs 1thru 10
I don’t have a bible. Is there evidence or proof that god exists in that citation? I’m all ears.
Pastor Mark, a great read. Thank you. I only wish that many, many churches had not surrendered their Freedom of Religion during the Covid crap. Most did surrender. Very few stood up to be counted. What will these churches, pastors, priests and rabbis do during the next pandemic?
David, I only wish that our local “republican” smack-down teams did not gather together to remove the one true conservative representative from the state house. Our state is truly turning blue.
I wish that too. It’s a sad day when conservatives put political expediency above true statesmanship. They’ve been at it for years, and they finally brought him down. Shame on them.
David, I have observed that you and your wife Linda are protecting dunleavy and what now is obvious. COVID SHOTS BROUGHT DEATH TO ALASKA THROUGH THE VEHICLE OF DUNLEAVY AND ZINC! WHY ARE YOU SO INTERESTED IN PROTECTING THEM?
the boyles are very protective of dunleavy!WHY
Just another indication how many churches are becoming less like houses of worship, and more like political advocacy organizations.
This is a sad but true statement. Church’s are serving their own interests and are feeding their own. We’ve become too heaven bound to do any earthly good. Let’s not only only put Christ back in Christmas, but in the church as well.
I think this is wrong and does not serve the church, especially those who are not part of it. If it continues, I hope to read about similar articles about signs protesting Elon Musk who has developed chips to be implanted in our brains to support our own thinking. Be very careful.
Pastor Mark is the type of pastor I would tend to follow, someone that isn’t afraid to confront a modern day Caesar. I though his analogy was spot on!
@Tom S, Some Church’s I’ll agree, but not all. Remember the Pope is just a man, fallible like us all whom I tend to disagree with quite a bit… but he is not GOD.
The Johnson Amendment has nothing to do with religion. It prevents organizations with a specific tax exempt status from endorsing candidates. There is nothing in our founding documents that exempts religious institutions from paying taxes. That benefit is granted with the proviso that they refrain from political activity. Post all the signs you want. Shout your political views from the roof tops. Condemn us heathens to hell fire. Just pay your taxes like the rest of us.
If you make the churches start paying taxes you are going to see a real decline in people being helped. I’ve heard a missionary say how the Christian nations were the ones to help Indonesia people, where there are a lot of Muslims, from a natural disaster. Even other Muslims from other nations wouldn’t help their own.
The LDS church has stashed around $265 billion as of 2023. The provide very little humanitarian relief. They do little for their own members too. If they were taxed as the business that they are, America would be better off.
Jamie allard states “the corruption is so bad it’s time for the church to get involved “.
QUESTION: Jamie, Shower, Johnson, Raucher,Hughes, you all are CHRISTIAN.
“FOR WHERE THERE ARE TWO OR MORE GATHERED, I AM THERE” JESUS’S WORDS!
What involvement are you looking for JAMIE?
We the people are waiting!
#1 Jamie allard posted ” things have become so bad that it’s time for the church to get involved”
#2 Allard, Johnson, Shower, Hughes, Raucher, aren’t you all Christian?
The Bible says that where two or three are gathered together He will be there also, correct?
#4 Jamie when you post that the church needs to be involved, by definition they are aren’t they?
WHAT DO YOU WANT!
Pastor Mark: The Johnson Amendment is part of the federal tax code. It does not threaten your religious freedom in any way. The federal tax code exempts non-profits from certain taxes as long as the non-profit refrains from political activity. In essence, the Johnson Amendment has provided that in exchange for tax-exempt status, a charitable nonprofit, foundation, or religious organization may “not 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.” What you are demanding is for local residents to pay your group (through tax exemptions) to advertise on behalf of political candidates. That is as un-American as it gets.
Thank you. That was very well articulated.
I don’t agree with you. It was a ploy to get churches to shut up. Look at the history of churches in the Revolutionary War. If you need a source of where to find the real story, search “Wallbuilders.”
Exactly. Many pastors were involved in the Revolution.
Ideally, I’d love to see churches pull away from tax exempt status as it is used as a means to control them. As Bob Bird pointed out, Black churches, which are often very Democrat leaning, seldom hide their endorsement of Democrat candidates and never suffer any consequences. Wonder why…
Basically, the only thing a church can’t do is to tell you who to vote for….they have every right to talk about Biblical principals and looking for candidates that also support them. Pastor Hoffman at Mountain City Church does a great job in doing this. Most churches and pastors just afraid to say anything. We did’t get where we are today because Pastors were vocal about our world. Most have just put their heads in the sand. It is time to speak out.
just like your ” conservative ” legislators!