Once again, the Freedom From Religion Foundation (an atheist group that prides itself in wasting the energy and resources of religious organizations) is suing the IRS. Following last week’s Tax Day, FFRF hopes it will end the parsonage allowance, a 64-year-old federal tax provision used by churches, mosques, and synagogues to help faith leaders live in the communities they serve. Last week, Pastor Chris Butler, a South Side Chicago pastor, asked a federal appeals court to end this discriminatory lawsuit that would devastate his community and subject churches across the country to almost $1 billion in new taxes.

The fact that FFRF is even taking aim at the IRS over this tax provision at all shows just how misguided they are, given the language of our First Amendment. For several decades, this federal tax code has allowed pastors, rabbis, imams, and other faith leaders to receive tax-free housing allowances under the same tax principle that allows teachers, business leaders, military service members, and hundreds of thousands of other workers to receive tax-free housing for their jobs.