Idiots on Parade

[patgund]

Personal opinion? If they want to make political endorsements, let them - provided they understand that the cost of doing such is the loss of tax exemption. I have no problems letting a minister make political statements from the pulpit, provided they aren't taking advantage of tax-exempt status while doing such.

Ban on Political Endorsements by Pastors Targeted

"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.

The effort by the Arizona-based legal consortium is designed to trigger an IRS investigation that ADF lawyers would then challenge in federal court. The ultimate goal is to persuade the U.S. Supreme Court to throw out a 54-year-old ban on political endorsements by tax-exempt houses of worship.

"For so long, there has been this cloud of intimidation over the church," ADF attorney Erik Stanley said. "It is the job of the pastors of America to debate the proper role of church in society. It's not for the government to mandate the role of church in society."

Yet an opposing collection of Christian and Jewish clergy will petition the IRS today to stop the protest before it starts, calling the ADF's "Pulpit Initiative" an assault on the rule of law and the separation of church and state."

Comments

[buddykat.livejournal.com]

Gee, I could have *sworn* it wasn't just pastors that weren't allowed to make political endorsements; AFAIK, it's *all* tax-exempt organizations. That's why a lot of tax-exempt orgs also have a non-exempt PAC attached to them. So their PAC can make all the political endorsements and statements that they want.