Pastors around U.S. to preach politics from the pulpit

[rug]

Posted: Oct 01, 2011, 8:28 pm
New York Times News Services

This weekend, hundreds of pastors, including some of the nation's evangelical leaders, will climb into their pulpits to preach about U.S. politics, flouting a decades-old law that prohibits tax-exempt churches and other charities from campaigning on election issues.

The sermons, on what is called Pulpit Freedom Sunday, essentially represent a form of biblical bait, an effort by some churches to goad the Internal Revenue Service into court battles over the divide between religion and politics.

The Alliance Defense Fund, a nonprofit legal defense group whose founders include James Dobson, the founder of Focus on the Family, sponsors the annual event, which started with 33 pastors in 2008. This year, Glenn Beck has been promoting it, calling for 1,000 religious leaders to sign on and generating additional interest at the beginning of a presidential election cycle.

''There should be no government intrusion in the pulpit," said the Rev. James Garlow, senior pastor at Skyline Church in La Mesa, Calif., who led preachers in the battle to pass California's Proposition 8, which banned same-sex marriage. "The freedom of speech and the freedom of religion promised under the First Amendment means pastors have full authority to say what they want to say."

http://www.postbulletin.com/news/stories/display.php?id=1470500

[elleng]

1. They are free to say what they want to say, no doubt.

They are not inherently entitled to tax exemptions.

[JDPriestly]

15. Yes, but donations to political candidates and causes are not

tax deductible in general.

So, if churches become political activist for candidates, for specific political causes, not just moral ones, then the churches cannot claim tax exemption, and donors to the church can't get a deduction for their donations. That has been the regulation for a long time.

If a preacher can preach on behalf of a candidate on Sunday morning, that is a sort of donation to the candidate's campaign.

[otohara]

2. When Bush Was Prez

I remember it was around Xmas or Easter - in my kitchen, I have a little TV that only carries the local stuff - I ran across a service on one of the religious stations. I was blown away, there was a gigantic image of George and Laura.

Pretty sure Barack and Michele don't get their pics plastered on the walls at any white mega church.

[appleannie1]

3. They have been doing just that for years now. That is how they have gained so much influence.

[pnorman]

4. Not a churchgorer, but believe that most churches are essentially "non profit",

and thereby immune from IRS scrutiny. They can thereby preach whatever they will. But those megachurch that are definitely money makes, and put their tax exempt status on the line. all the more reason to get fully behind Obama in 2012!

[skepticscott]

7. Sorry, not true

Non-profits (including churches) are not immune from IRS scrutiny. Under the terms of their tax exemption, they are not allowed to engage in partisan political activity. if they do, the IRS can yank their tax exemption.

[pnorman]

13. My assumption is that most churches operate pretty close to "zero net income"

And thereby of little or no interest to the IRS. (I'm coming from a aclu standpoint)

[cleanhippie]

18. That may be true, but in no way justifies politicizing the pulpit.

And if they do, they should lost their tax exempt status. Then they can operate at a loss.

[pnorman]

20. Of course lose their tax exept status!

But if as I assume there is virtually no net income, then there's nothing to concern the IRS.

The same thing would apply to labor unions.

[begin_within]

5. That James Garlow is a pompous right-wing ass.

I've seen him a couple times. We went to their "Living Christmas Tree" show which I have to admit was very well done. But at that time I didn't know anything about the politics of that church.

[Deep13]

6. I'm sure the IRS can use the money. nt

[Lint Head]

8. As citizens we all can petition the IRS to investigate and sue.

[RKP5637]

9. Tax them. And a lot of pastors are idiots! n/t

[Kceres]

11. Yep. This is great. The evangelicals can help pay down the deficit.

And not just the mega churches either. Think of all those small, rural churches! The IRS can send under-cover agents to Sunday services and bust 'em. A few thousand dollars here, a couple of hundred there; it'll add up fast.

[progressoid]

14. And nullify the deductions their parishioners take for their deductions.

[LuvNewcastle]

10. They've been doing that since I was a kid.

Although there was a lot of talk surrounding Carter when he announced he was a born-again Christian, the campaigning really went into high gear when Reagan was swept in in 1980. I remember sitting in Baptist churches and being told that it was basically immoral to vote for Democrats. Those preachers were taking their cue from Jerry Falwell and his ilk. I haven't been to a Baptist church in about 20 years, but from what I hear from others, the rhetoric is essentially the same. If you try to confront the Baptists about campaigning for candidates, they usually just say that they aren't doing anything different than what black churches do for Democrats. It's going to be hard to separate religion and politics in this country, if such a thing could even be done.

[RKP5637]

12. When I went to church decades ago, there was no politics, actually just good

common sense stuff, probably because the minister was exceptionally bright and liberal. Now, anymore, church has just become another racket and propaganda mills. And many are just cults.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

16. It REALLY depends on the church

I'm suspicious of anything that calls itself "nondenominational," since far from being a good thing, it means that nobody is overseeing the minister.

If you're a member of a denomination, you have to meet minimum educational requirements, quite often go through a long evaluation process before you can even go to seminary, and once you're in a parish, the denominational administration monitors you, and the parish's finances are controlled by a board of lay people from the congregation. You're expected to live on your salary (which is determined by the denomination) and not use church funds to buy yourself diamond pinky rings.

In a "nondenominational" church, the "minister" may be a high school dropout with a bug up his ass about a few issues and a desire to rake in money.

[RKP5637]

17. Interesting!!! Thanks!!! I had never thought about that! It makes perfect sense! n/t

[struggle4progress]

19. It's a publicity-stunt fund-raising hook for the rightwing Alliance Defense Fund:

they want to play oppressed-by-the-government, which fits neatly into the rightwing anti-regulatory agenda: it would be interesting to know their money-sources

The IRS is unlikely to investigate without credible complaint, and they're unlikely to act without solid evidence

So fighting back would be a multi-year fight. One should start by developing good lists of the churches announcing their participation, and letters to the IRS complaining of those announcements of intent to flout the law. The best one could probably hope for in the early years would be IRS mailings reminding the participating churches about the law. After a few years, those churches, that regularly announced intent to flout the law, might get a closer look-see by the IRS