Preachers under fire: politics from the pulpit breaks the law, some say [Presbyterian Rebellion Day]

San Bernandino Sun ^ | 12/23/2012 | Josh Dulaney

[Alex Murphy]

American pulpits since the founding of the country have been filled with pastors dedicated to political reform. Scholars point to the Congregationalist church and Presbyterians in New England as having a profound impact on the shaping of the nation. "There has been a long history of preaching in this country that was political and quite divisive," said James E. Bradley, the Geoffrey W. Bromiley professor of church history at Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena. "The pulpit was pretty critical to the success in the revolt against England and King George III," Bradley said. "Some referred to the revolution as a Presbyterian rebellion."

Bradley also noted that Baptists and Presbyterians were instrumental in stopping the effort to impose a religious tax paid to Anglican Church ministers in Virginia. The cord between government and religion in that state was cut when a bill passed in 1785 defeated religious taxes, and Thomas Jefferson in 1786 passed the Virginia Act for Establishing Religious Freedom. Against a lot of contemporary popular opinion, it's the case that some religious groups were quite instrumental in the beginning of religious freedom," Bradley said.

The pulpit also was prominent on both sides of the Civil War, as northern Baptists preached abolition and Southern Baptists supported slavery, he said. And the civil rights movement saw black preachers and those like Martin Luther King Jr. use the pulpit to rally the nation. Bradley said the American revolution, the Civil War and the civil rights movement "are just three of the most obvious illustrations of how public and outspoken protestant preachers have been in this country."

[Sacajaweau]

government doesn’t get it.....they can’t tell preachers what to preach

[hoosierham]

Evil government wants to tell preachers what to preach, and will do so if not prevented.

[17th Miss Regt]

Two words why the government won’t take away tax exemptions - black churches.

[Steve_Seattle]

Here in Seattle, Mt. Zion Baptist Church has been a black, liberal activist church for 50 years, and its former pastor - Samuel McKinney - is a hero to local liberals, black and white. In all those years, I NEVER heard any liberal criticize him for preaching politics from the pulpit - he was considered a hero for doing it. But when conservative pastors speak on politics, it is UNCONSTITUTIONAL, ILLEGAL, and INAPPROPRIATE!!! Or so they say . . .

[Steve_Seattle]

You beat me to it by 1/2 second.

[Louis Foxwell]

Nor can the POTUS tell religious people to keep their worship private and their religious opinions to themselves.

[lowbridge]

He preached about politics and Israel. And politics and defending the pre-born.

See, thats his problem. If he preached liberalism, well then thats ok.

[Guardian Sebastian]

Precisely why they want it curtailed.

[cripplecreek]

I'm glad to see churches beginning to push back. Government has good reason to fear good churches.


"It was Sunday morning early in the year 1776. In the church where Pastor Muhlenberg preached, it was a regular service for his congregation, but a quite different affair for Muhlenberg himself. Muhlenberg's text for the day was Ecclesiastes 3 where it explains, 'To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven; a time to be born, and a time to die, a time to plant, and a time to pluck what is planted...'"

"Coming to the end of his sermon, Peter Muhlenberg turned to his congregation and said, 'In the language of the holy writ, there was a time for all things, a time to preach and a time to pray, but those times have passed away.' As those assembled looked on, Pastor Muhlenberg declared, 'There is a time to fight, and that time is now coming!' Muhlenberg then proceeded to remove his robes revealing, to the shock of his congregation, a military uniform."

"Marching to the back of the church he declared, 'Who among you is with me?' On that day 300 men from his church stood up and joined Peter Muhlenberg. They eventually became the 8th Virginia Brigade fighting for liberty."

"Frederick Muhlenberg, Peter's brother, was against Peter's level of involvement in the war. Peter responded to Frederick writing, 'I am a Clergyman it is true, but I am a member of the Society as well as the poorest Layman, and my Liberty is as dear to me as any man, shall I then sit still and enjoy myself at Home when the best Blood of the Covenant is spilling? ...So far am I from thinking that I act wrong, I am convinced it is my duty to do so and duly I owe to God and my country."

[AppyPappy]

Haven’t these people ever heard of Rev Martin Luther King and the Civil Rights Movement?

[lonestar]

Democrat politicians “preach” before elections in Black chjurches. One of the funniest was Hillary speacking in black dialect.

[lonestar]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6FlpbRFXC9E

[hoosierham]

You do understand it is only white ministers preaching traditional virtues that are a problem.

Doesn’t it say in the Bible”he who will not work,neither shall he eat” ?

That alone is anathema to the Welfare crowd.

And then there are those pesky Commandments about murder,stealing,false witness, and coveting.

[c-b 1]

Government can not tell a non 501 (c) 3 church what tor preach on, or what not to preach on.

Problem solved.

[Viennacon]

No, they can’t. They are acting unconstitutionally if they prevent preachers from doing so. It is freedom of speech.

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks Alex Murphy.

[Texas Fossil]

Best solution: Eliminate the IRS....

Find another way to finance the government after shrinking the federal government to the smallest possible.

DownSize DC! FOREVER

Then preaching from the pulpit cannot be intimidated.

[GenXteacher]

“Congress in 1954 passed the Johnson Amendment.

Named after then-Sen. Lyndon B. Johnson, D-Texas, the law was based on the premise that tax-exempt organizations should not publicly endorse or oppose political candidates.”

Anything piece of legislation connected with LBJ should be repealed, just on principle.

[ChildOfThe60s]

Authoritarian governments have always feared and fought churches. There is a reason autocrats are atheists and work so hard at stamping out religion. That is part of the current effort to turn Christians into second class citizens.

The power to tax is the power to destroy.