... to come out of The Christian RightTM...
Declaring that clergy have a constitutional right to endorse political candidates from their pulpits, the socially conservative Alliance Defense Fund is recruiting several dozen pastors to do just that on Sept. 28, in defiance of Internal Revenue Service rules.
Because I cannot really improve upon what was said on this score by Gabriel Malor let me just quote him at length below the fold...
This is, in a word, stupid. Of course clergy have a constitutional right to endorse political candidates from their pulpits. They can endorse 'til they are blue in the face. They are free to hold bake sales and raffles to raise money for political advocacy, if that's what they want to do. No one is stopping them.But take heed: no one has a right to tax-exempt status. If churches want the benefits that come from being 501(c)(3)-eligible, they must behave according to rules established by Congress and the IRS. Among other things, they must not devote a substantial part of their activities to attempting to influence legislation and they must not participate in, or intervene in, any political campaign on behalf of or in opposition to any candidate for public office.
Everyone get that? Because it's a vitally important distinction and difference. Churches in the US are free as they please to endorse whomever they wish, as often as they wish, shouting from as many rooftops as they can find, etc.
But tax exemption ain't a right - and one who wishes to engage in political advocacy should, appropriately, forfeit any such status.
As they say, read the whole thing.
Exit question: given the already very thin line crossed routinely by, ahem, Reverend Wright and his ilk - to say nothing of Planned Parenthood, et al. - on this subject, is this a battle conservatives really want to fight? I mean, do we really want certain groups completley unfettered by even the threat of losing their tax-exempt status (an absolute lifeline, in many cases) because of their expressed political advocacy?
and ministers supporting candidates from the pulpit have always ticked me off. Now THAT is a violation of ...well you know the phrase.