Once again, the Alliance Defense Fund is asking pastors to break the law governing tax-exempt political restrictions, in search of a test case to challenge its constitutionality. Ministers are being asked to endorse candidates from the pulpit this Sunday in direct violation of IRS guidelines which prohibit 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations from electioneering. This is not a rule aimed specifically at houses of worship but covers the vast majority of nonprofit entities. A tax exemption is a benefit should not be used – the law reasonably requires – to manipulate or otherwise intervene in the political process.
The Baptist Joint Committee's Brent Walker slammed the Alliance Defense Fund's newest initiative: urging ministers to endorse political candidates from the pulpit in violation of the tax code.
Walker says “Pulpit Freedom Sunday” is a misnomer because pulpits already are free in this country. He calls the idea “misguided” because it is unnecessary, divisive and corrosive.
“Pulpit Freedom Sunday is entirely unnecessary. Preachers are perfectly free to interpret and apply scripture as they see fit, speak out on the great moral and ethical issues of the day, and urge good citizenship practices, such as registering to vote and voting,” Walker said. “The only thing they can’t do — in exchange for the most favored tax exempt status — is to tell the faithful how to vote.
As for churches, there is another very good reason to stay out of the politicking business: congregations prefer it. As AU's Barry Lynn notes, poll after poll says that a majority of church-goers want their clergy to stay out of the candidate endorsement business.
“This is the worst idea ever,” said the Rev. Barry W. Lynn, executive director of Americans United. “Clergy serve as spiritual advisers, not political bosses. Pulpit politicking violates federal tax law and offends the vast majority of church-goers.
“The nation is already bitterly divided over politics this year,”
Pulpit endorsements are poor church leadership, questionable theology, offensive politics, and a clear violation of the tax code. Clergy should reject ADF's search for a legal guinea pig.
