A sticking point that Democrats are talking about behind closed doors is to tax churches. Such a move would create a real rebellion because there are so many churches. As a result, no one is talking about it openly. Churches were exempt from taxation by the separation of church and State clause. The power to tax is the power to control and churches have always been tax exempt to prevent government control. However Democrats see it as a lucrative tax source because of the millions of dollars that flow through churches weekly. While open taxation is currently not an option, the IRS has been quietly extending its claws into churches by increasingly regulating how giving is done. Those rules are giving them more ways to control churches. They have been using their power to grant non-profit status to churches to threaten churches and religious organizations who speak out on social issues like abortion and Gay privileges. The IRS under President Obama held up applications for Christian organizations seeking to get non-profit status prior to the 2016 elections in order to threaten them into being silent on social issues. In some instances they have tried to silence churches by threatening to revoke their non-profit status. Sometimes, they tried to force pastors to submit copies of their sermons to show that they are not preaching against abortion and Gay privileges. That is illegal because churches are legally able to speak out on issues. In fact, the founding fathers felt that democracy could not survive if it was not directed by people seeking God’s guidance. How can people know God’s guidance on issues if the church can not teach them God’s principles. Churches do not lose their freedom of speech just because they are Christian. In fact, abortion and Gay privileges are religious matters and involve belief in the value of life and of marriage. To force them to support abortion or marry Gay couples would violate their religious beliefs and would be interfering with their religious practices in open violation of the Constitution. In some instances, they have tried to force churches and other religious organizations to turn over lists of their contributors in order to discourage people from giving to them out of fear that the IRS might audit them. Some cities are denying churches permits to build or expand in the city limits in order to force them out of the city. Since churches don’t pay taxes, they want to replace them with businesses that will bring in tax revenue.