Written by Don Byrd
A record 1,477 pastors participated in this year’s Pulpit Freedom Sunday, a yearly event in which pastors attempt to bait the IRS into a legal battle over the regulation prohibiting non-profit organizations like churches from endorsing candidates while claiming tax-exempt status. While the rule protects churches from becoming candidate’s tools for circumventing campaign finance rules, Pulpit Freedom Sunday participants argue that the First Amendment protects such speech. So far, however, the IRS has not taken the challenge to initiate an inquiry into those who flout the law.
With so many participants now, that may have to change. Reuters reports:
Now in an election year, where a few swing states – including North Carolina – will be crucial, political analysts say pastors campaigning from the pulpit could have an impact.
Critics say the movement threatens the U.S. constitutional principle of separation of church and state and makes pastors look like political operatives rather than neutral spiritual leaders.
“When the church further divides the country, where’s the win in that?” asked Reverend C. Welton Gaddy, president of the Interfaith Alliance, and an opponent of “Pulpit Freedom Sunday.”
How much longer can the IRS stay on the sidelines and still claim the prohibition against pulpit endorsements still has teeth?
