What about ‘Congress shall make no law’ is hard to understand. Government cannot express an opinion about an ecclesiastical issue, even if that issue pertains to a matter in the public square and before the body politic.
For example: One of the Ten Commandments forbids coveting. Another forbids theft. When a candidate proposes to “spread the wealth around” and even to coerce all citizens to live at the expense of every other citizen, that is a political issue that touches on an ecclesiastical one: sin.
Pastors have every obligation to point out that socialist political policies are based on violation of the Commandments that forbid coveting and theft. Sadly, not only do too few pastors care to do so, too many have allowed such candidates to speak to the congregations from behind the very pulpit was supposed to be dedicated to preaching the implications of those very Commandments.
I see the restrictions as wrong, and passed before we had the watchman ministries of today.
Related:
1,500 ministers to preach on politics (http://www.wnd.com/2012/10/1500-ministers-to-preach-on-politics)
The number of pastors standing up for their right to preach from their pulpits on politics is surging.
They call a ban on such speech a “cultural myth.”
In 2008, 35 pastors defied the IRS, which holds the position that church “organizations are absolutely prohibited from directly or indirectly participating in, or intervening in, any political campaign on behalf of (or in opposition to) any candidate for elective public office.”
The number of pastors boldly opposing the IRS rule grew to 539 in 2011 and is expected to be more than 1,500 on Oct. 7, during what organizers are calling “Pulpit Freedom Sunday.”
The pastors find support and instructions on participating at pulpitfreedom.org, and they are backed by a legal team at the Alliance Defending Freedom.
While WND was told no church ever has lost its tax-exempt status over such issues, the circumstances of such cases vary widely. There was a case handled by the American Center for Law and Justice in 2000 where Branch Ministries of Binghamton, N.Y., had its tax-exempt status withdrawn after church officials bought full-page newspaper ads blasting Bill Clinton.
The decision was affirmed by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia.
The ACLJ said, “The ACLJ believes that this campaigning ban impermissibly infringes on the First Amendment rights of churches,” but added, “It is nevertheless the current law. Consequently, churches desiring to keep their tax-exempt status must stringently adhere to it.”
Americans United for Separation of Church and State says it has sent 60,000 letters to churches in an effort to tell pastors that the law requires them to stay out of politics.
The group’s position is that churches are only tax-exempt because of the 501(c)3 provision in the tax code, which has been revoked at least once since 1954.
That was the year Democratic Sen. Lyndon B. Johnson inserted language into a tax bill designed to restrict outspoken political opponents from using their nonprofits to campaign against him. Known as the “Johnson Amendment,” it enabled the IRS to become a watchdog of America’s church pulpits.
“Any activity designed to influence the outcome of a partisan election can be construed as intervention,” the Americans United letter declares. “If the IRS determines that your house of worship has engaged in unlawful intervention, it can revoke the institution’s tax-exempt status or levy significant fines on the house of worship or its leaders.”
The letter then recalls, “In 1995, the IRS revoked the tax-exempt status of a Binghamton, N.Y., church for buying a full-page ad in USA Today opposing a 1992 presidential candidate.”
The Alliance Defending Freedom contends the AU letter is misleading and disingenuous, explaining that the church in New York had its “determination letter” revoked, not its “tax exempt” status. The distinction is crucial, ADF told WND, because there was basically no effect on the church from this IRS action.
Erik Stanley, senior legal counsel for Americans Defending Freedom, told WND that churches don’t need a determination letter from the IRS to be considered tax-exempt.
“IRS section 508(c)1 (a) automatically exempts churches, and no advance determination letter is necessary,” he explained.
Also,
The amount that churches are giving overseas in goods and services to developing (“Third World”) countries amounts to $8.8 billion. This figures out to be nearly 40 percent of the foreign aid provided by the United States to the same region. U.S. foreign aid to those same countries is $23.5 billion. Carol Adelman of the Hudson Institute, from Notre Dame University study.
On average, weekly churchgoers donate 3.8% of their income to charity, compared to 0.8% for those who never go. Independent Sector (charitable clearing house): Atheists won’t save Europe by Don Feder; http://www.frontpagemagazine.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=27937
Much more stats: http://peacebyjesus.witnesstoday.org/RevealingStatistics.html#8