OK, the very things that Christians warned of concerning the illegal and unconstitutional ruling regarding sodomy-based "marriage" is coming to pass. Sadly, it seems the even those who oppose such perversion are falling prey to the propaganda. Senator Mike Lee(R-UT) asked Internal Revenue Commissioner John Koskinen if he would pledge not to remove tax exempt status from Christian colleges without the authorization of Congress of the courts and the commissioner said that he wouldn't surprise anyone, but give fair warning.

"Will you commit to me that while you remain on as the commissioner … you will not in the absence of a directive by Congress or by the courts, that you will not take any action to remove the tax-exempt status from religious colleges and universities based on their belief that marriage is between a man and a woman?" Senator Lee asked Koskinen.

First thing is first. Neither the courts nor the Congress not the Executive Branch have authority, according the Constitution, to remove such status (See here and here). Lee assumes they have this authority.

Going along with the bone thrown to him, Koskinen replied, "We would issue a regulation … the Treasury and the IRS issue jointly. If we ever did that, we would issue it for public comment. There would be no surprises."

"The public would have plenty of notice and plenty of opportunity to comment, and that's not going to happen in the next two and a half years," Koskinen added.

He should have said, "We don't have authority to do that," and Lee should have phrased his question to better get to the point of where the IRS would have found such authority to exercise it.

Here's the IRS chief's unconstitutional comments:

Furthermore, how can you trust a corrupt federal government that has already targeted its citizens concerning tax exempt status to tell you the truth about whether they will or will not target Christian institutions regarding their views on marriage?

Koskinen did tell Lee, "I can make that commitment."

This comes from the man who had no clue as to what was going on in the IRS under Lois Lerner and still has not fully complied with all of the demands of Congress concerning that investigation.

The Christian Post reports:

However, Koskinen did leave the door wide open for tax-exempt statuses to be a problem for Christian schools in the future.

 

Lee, who introduced legislation in the Senate last month that would prevent the federal government from imposing consequences on individuals or organizations that uphold religious beliefs on marriage, asked Koskinen if Christian colleges losing their tax-exempt status could be an issue as the nation moves forward with the Supreme Court's gay marriage decision.

 

Lee explained that Solicitor General Donald Verrilli said that it "is certainly going to be an issue," when asked by Justice Samuel Alito during the Supreme Court oral arguments in Obergefell v. Hodges in May. Lee asked if Koskinen shares that view and if that is going to be a real concern.

 

The conversation did continue.

"The [subcommittee] chairman, [Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas,] last week, asked the same question in a letter asking for our response and we responded to the chairman and we have responded publicly that at this time, we see no basis for changing our examination criteria as a result of this Supreme Court case," Koskinen said.

"When you say 'at this time,' is that meant to qualify or restrict your answer or are you saying there is no basis upon which you could revisit tax-exempt status," Lee queried further.

"At this time there is no basis for us to revisit tax-exempt status on that that grounds. We will continue, obviously, to ensure that those who enjoy tax-exempt status are still doing the work they said they were going to do," Koskinen elaborated. "But that exam and those reviews will continue as they always have."

"I don't mean to leave uncertainty there. It's not the IRS's position to make public policy. We implement the laws as they stand," Koskinen added. "It is our view right now in terms of overall lay of the land that there is no basis at this point to make any different change in our review policies and our exam policies. We can't predict over the next years what is going to happen in terms of decisions that will be made in public policy but those aren't decisions that we are going to make."

When Lee asked if Koskinen disagreed with Solicitor General Verrili's comments 'that is certainly going to be an issue," Koskinene replied, "Not necessarily, but he was not saying that it would be an issue with the IRS. I think what he was trying to say was that over time and other areas over time, public policy decisions have been made by courts and legislatures that ultimately then did influence tax-exempt status," Koskinen contended. "The Bob Jones case is one of those. But that was not a case of policy made by the IRS, that was a case over 15 or 20 years of decisions made by courts and legislatures."

Koskenin assumed the IRS did have the power to action in such a measure not according to law, but according to policy. For you see, the IRS is an unconstitutional entity.

"Down the road, if the IRS ever moves in that direction because of public policy changes, it would first issue a draft regulation for public comment so the public would have plenty of notice and plenty of opportunity for comment and that's not going to happen in the next two-and-a-half years," Koskinen said.

Lee concluded by pointing out the obvious.

"While I greatly appreciate Commissioner Koskinen's word that he will not target religious institutions for their religious beliefs, it worries me and it should worry every American that the IRS does not absolutely disavow the power to target religious institutions based on their religious beliefs, even if the current IRS commissioner has committed not to use that power for the time being.," Lee said.

That's exactly right. This behemoth called the federal government has grown and already shown it has broken the chains of the Constitution, and in the words of Thomas Jefferson, has engaged in a "long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism." Therefore, it is no longer time that we debate the issue as those who formed the beast that now seeks to devour us. It is time to eliminate it permanently.

Jefferson went on to state what the rightful remedy to such tyranny is:

"…it is their right (the people), it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.--Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government."

May the God of Heaven, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, grant such measures in our land once again.

Read more at http://freedomoutpost.com/2015/08/irs-chief-we-will-let-christian-colleges-know-if-we-will-revoke-their-tax-exempt-status-over-their-views-on-marriage/#J9W62Mfol3vleoKC.99