Thanks to a Wisconsin federal Judge, the Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF) has won an initial victory in challenging the housing allowance for pastors.
Barbara Crabb says the atheist group has standing to pursue the lawsuit, but one attorney doesn't think a court will agree.
Mat Staver of Liberty Counsel tells OneNewsNow the FFRF claims the housing allowance provided by the Internal Revenue Service violates the Establishment Clause and equal protection aspects of the U.S. Constitution.
"The problem is that the leaders of Freedom From Religion Foundation do not have a housing exemption, are not eligible for a housing exemption, and so their grievance against this is just ideological, but it has no direct impact on them," he explains. "Therefore, they have no standing."
So, Staver believes Judge Crabb's decision will be overturned if it is appealed to a higher court.
He recalls a similar case in which the same judge allowed the FFRF "to go forward in a lawsuit because they had a general grievance against the National Day of Prayer. She was reversed by the court of appeals, which said that the Freedom From Religion Foundation had no standing," the Liberty Counsel founder reports.
He believes the FFRF views the parsonage allowance as an establishment of religion, which is a violation of the Constitution. However, Staver asserts that is not the case, and he says the atheist group cannot legitimately claim any injury.