Participating pastors will exercise First Amendment right to speak on positions of electoral candidates Sept. 28
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Pastors participating in the Alliance Defense Fund’s “Pulpit Freedom Sunday” will preach from their pulpits Sept. 28 about the moral qualifications of candidates seeking political office. The pastors will exercise their First Amendment right to preach on the subject, despite federal tax regulations that prohibit intervening or participating in a political campaign.
“Pastors have a right to speak about Biblical truths from the pulpit without fear of punishment. No one should be able to use the government to intimidate pastors into giving up their constitutional rights,” said ADF Senior Legal Counsel Erik Stanley. “If you have a concern about pastors speaking about electoral candidates from the pulpit, ask yourself this: should the church decide that question, or should the IRS?”
Pulpit Freedom Sunday is an event associated with the ADF Pulpit Initiative, a legal effort designed to secure the First Amendment rights of pastors in the pulpit. A document explaining what the Pulpit Initiative is and is not is available here.
“ADF is not trying to get politics into the pulpit. Churches can decide for themselves that they either do or don’t want their pastors to speak about electoral candidates. The point of the Pulpit Initiative is very simple: the IRS should not be the one making the decision by threatening to revoke a church’s tax-exempt status. We need to get the government out of the pulpit,” said Stanley.
Stanley explained that, contrary to the misunderstandings of many, tax-exempt status is not a “gift” or “subsidy” bestowed by the government.
“Churches were completely free to preach about candidates from the day that the Constitution was ratified in 1788 until 1954. That’s when the unconstitutional rule known as the ‘Johnson Amendment’ was enacted,” explained Stanley. “Churches are exempt from taxation under the principle that there is no surer way to destroy religion than to begin taxing it. As the U.S. Supreme Court has noted, the power to tax involves the power to destroy. The real effect of the Johnson Amendment is that pastors are muzzled for fear of investigation by the IRS.”
After Sept. 28, ADF plans to provide via news release a list of pastors who participated in Pulpit Freedom Sunday.
ADF is a legal alliance of Christian attorneys and like-minded organizations defending the right of people to freely live out their faith. Launched in 1994, ADF employs a unique combination of strategy, training, funding, and litigation to protect and preserve religious liberty, the sanctity of life, marriage, and the family.
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5 comments:
Making tax exemption contingent on restricting political speech is anathema to the intent of the First Amendment of the Constitution. It is about time that church leaders assert their fundamental rights and thumb their noses at a bureaucracy gone mad.
The ability to tax is the ability to control (or to destroy in another version). Where are our defenders of the principle of "separation of church and state" when we need them?
The complete fact of the matter is this. A 501 c3 religious tax exemption is not a right. It is something applied for and possibly granted. When a church applies for a 501 c3 status they go into it knowing what the rules are. Therefore, either accept the rules of that for which you are applying or do not have it. If you cannot agree to the rules of a 501c3 then you shall not have the exemption.
IRS, please do your duty, uphold the law, and if these churches preach politics from the pulpit, PLEASE revoke their tax exempt status immediately!
Robert Rowley, Tucson, Arizona
So, this is get government out of the Church so that the Church can get into the business of government?
First lie here is that any political speech is being restricted. Anyone (preachers included) can get up in front of their followers and orate politics.
Separation of Church and State means just that; a separation.
How does a church becomeing a political advertisement and advocacy not cross that line?
Robert, if someone sneaked a provision into the tax code that said people from Tuscon, Arizona had to pay double taxes if they posted a comment on a blog anywhere in the United States, would that be okay as long as you knew about it ahead of time?
Or would it be an unconstitutional infringement of the freedom of speech of people who live in Tuscon...as the revocation of tax exempt status (something that was automatic for most of American history, going back to the Revolution) is on churches and pastors?
What are you afraid of, Robert? Are you afraid churches might actually get back into the business of teaching right and wrong again?
How horrible that would be!
pazooter, stop for a moment and use the mind God gave you.
If there is a penalty for exercising a "freedom," is it a "freedom?" Is a right that comes at a price exacted by the government really a right?
Please, do us both a favor and go read the First Amendment to the Constitution. Do you see a restriction on free speech or religious expression in there? Look twice just to be sure.
Churches not only have a right, they have a DUTY to speak out about the moral issues facing our society. And if there are politicians who are making a brave stand in favor of a moral position--or there is a politician who is taking a stand for the immoral position--churches and pastors have a DUTY to ensure that their members know about this.
It was done during the American Revolution. It was done during the abolitionist movement in the effort to rid our nation of slavery. It was done during the civil rights movement to ensure full rights and access for black people to all that they are guaranteed as Americans under the Constitution.
Would you rather churches have been silent and muzzled in all these issues?
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