The Alliance Defense Fund launched an initiative last May aimed at challenging Internal Revenue Service rules dating back to 1954 which bar houses of worship from politicking by supporting or opposing candidates.
The effort culminated with "Pulpit Freedom Sunday," on Sept. 28, in which more than 30 pastors across the U.S. delivered what were deemed by some to be political sermons.
A review of the various sermons prompted Americans United for Separation of Church and State to lodge complaints with the IRS against seven churches whose pastors, it says, endorsed candidates from the pulpit.
There have been several unsuccessful attempts by members of Congress to repeal or amend the tax law that bars partisan activity by non-profit organizations. Also, only one church had challenged the law in court, and wound up losing its tax-exempt status.
Leading up to "Pulpit Freedom Sunday," ADF issued a statement, which read in part:
"The purpose of the Pulpit Initiative is to restore the right of pastors to speak freely from the pulpit without fear of punishment by the government for doing what churches do: speak on any number of cultural and societal issues from a biblical perspective. The purpose of the ADF Pulpit Initiative is not–as some have intentionally tried to confuse the issue–about whether pastors should or should not ‘endorse' candidates. The issue with which ADF is concerned about is over who regulates what may be said from the pulpit.
Certainly, congregations and a church's leadership can tell pastors they don't want names of candidates spoken from the pulpit. But that is very different from government censorship."
Also, ADF Senior Legal Counsel Erik Stanley asserted that 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. 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," Stanley stated.
Stanley added, the ADF is prepared to defend the First Amendment rights of pastors who took part in "Pulpit Freedom Sunday."
Likewise, American Center for Law & Justice Chief Counsel, Jay Sekulow, said, "The thought of Washington bureaucrats sifting through sermon recordings should be unsettling for all people of faith. ‘Big Brother' government surveillance, investigation, and punishment of churches due to the content of their speech, should be stopped once and for all.
While pastors can speak out for themselves in their individual capacity, they are barred from either supporting or opposing a political candidate in their role as head of a tax-exempt organization.
On one hand, the IRS says, it's permissible for religious leaders to discuss important issues of public policy (as they should), but they are prohibited from supporting or opposing a candidate who takes positions on these issues. That's absurd. The prohibition makes no sense and has far-reaching implications. It censors pastors; and it turns the IRS, which was originally designed to collect revenue for the general treasury, into the ‘speech police.'
A legislative repeal of the burdensome IRS provisions is needed to restore unbridled free speech to religious leaders of all faiths. I strongly support H.R. 2275, a bill sponsored by Congressman Walter Jones (R-N.C.) that is designed to ‘restore the Free Speech and First Amendment rights of churches and exempt organizations by repealing the 1954 Johnson Amendment.'
What's clearly needed is a legislative remedy, and this bill would help to get the government out of the church-surveillance business.
Many pastors would use their restored freedom of speech to help their members reconcile their religious faith with their choice of political candidates. Churches will not be transformed into political machines by lifting the current gag rule, as evidenced by the first-century-and-a-half of American experience. A pastor should be responsive to God, his own conscience, and his congregation, for what is preached from the pulpit -- not the government," Sekulow said.
Also, Liberty Counsel Founder, Mathew Staver, said, "Pastors should throw away the muzzle of fear and replace it with a megaphone of boldness. It was sermons of pastors that fueled the American Revolution. America needs her pastors to once again speak up, and address the religious and moral issues of the day. Pastors can preach biblical truths and educate their congregations about the critical moral issues at stake in this election without violating any IRS rules."
The seven churches against which Americans United filed complaints with the IRS are:
Trinity Baptist Church, Yukon, Okla.
Bethlehem Baptist Church, Bethlehem, Ga.
Fairview Baptist Church, Fairview, Okla.
Warroad Community Church, Warroad, Minn.
Calvary Chapel, Philadelphia, Pa.
First Southern Baptist Church, Buena Park, Calif.
New Life Church, West Bend, Wisc.
Pastor Jody Hice, with Bethlehem Baptist Church, was among those who defended his participation in "Pulpit Freedom Sunday," in an interview on Fox News Channel.
"There are a number of non-taxed organizations that are tax-exempt that have no speech restrictions on them. You have civic leagues, business leagues, chambers of commerce and a variety of others that enjoy tax-exempt status,but have no speech restrictions given to them.
When it comes to religious organizations, the government stands over us, saying there are certain things you cannot say or we'll take away your tax-exemption. And it comes down to a constitutional issue, the First Amendment, that we have the right to address these issues, and it's not the business of the government to hijack or censor speech from the pulpit," Hice said.
Americans United Executive Director, the Rev. Barry Lynn, criticized the participants.
"These pastors flagrantly violated the law and now must deal with the consequences.
This is one of the most appalling Religious Right gambits I've ever seen. Church leaders are supposed to tend to Americans' spiritual needs, not behave like partisan political hacks.
A pastor who knowingly violates federal tax law is setting a poor example for his or her congregation. Every pastor who took part in this stunt ought to be ashamed," Lynn said.
The IRS has said it would "take action as appropriate" in the matter. The agency does not comment on specific complaints.
To counter "Pulpit Freedom Sunday," the Interfaith Alliance launched a nationwide campaign "urging clergy to protect the boundaries between religion and government and refrain from endorsing political candidates on behalf of their house of worship." More than 180 clergy members signed the Interfaith Alliance pledge.
Rev. Dr. C. Welton Gaddy, Interfaith Alliance President, and Pastor for Preaching and Worship at Northminster (Baptist) Church in Monroe, La., recently told his own congregation, "I cannot stress strongly enough my objections to turning houses of worship into pseudo-precinct nominating conventions. I am as concerned about what such a practice in houses of worship would do to the integrity and credibility of religion as about what it would do to weaken the Constitution."
J. Brent Walker, executive director of the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty, called "Pulpit Freedom Sunday," misguided.
"In every church I know of, it would be like setting off a bomb shell in the sanctuary for the preacher to tell the congregants how to pull the lever in the voting booth. It would be incredibly corrosive of the church's true mission to spread the Gospel, and be salt and light in the culture. As soon as the church throws in with a particular candidate or party, its prophetic edge is blunted. You can't raise a prophet's fist at a candidate or party when, with the other arm, you are locked in a tight bear hug," Walker said.
Anti-Defamation League National Director, Abraham Foxman, said, "This campaign raises serious moral and legal questions about the appropriate role of houses of worship in a political campaign" Foxman continued, "Ministers and pastors, in their personal capacity, already have every right to support or oppose candidates for public office. They can speak out on political issues, and promote voter participation and voter education initiatives. But politicizing churches coerces congregants, distorts the political system and poses a serious threat to religious liberty."
Mark Galli, senior managing editor of Christianity Today, summed up the matter of pastors and politics this way:
"Do you want to be politically relevant? Then gather your people together each Sunday and lead them to worship the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Remind your people through hymns and prayers and proclamation that there is a Leader Who can do something more significant for the nation than protecting their investments or providing cheap health insurance.
Gather your people not as Christian Democrats or Christian Republicans, not as members of the Religious Left or Religious Right, not as evangelicals for the environment or fundamentalists for business–but simply as disciples of Jesus Christ."
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