The Washington
Post reports that some pastors are planning to violate IRS regulations
which prevent pastors from endorsing candidates from the pulpit. The penalty for violation is the loss of a
church’s tax-exempt status. The Alliance
Defense Fund is encouraging pastors to take this step and is willing to take
the U.S. Government to court in order to overturn the IRS policies on First
Amendment grounds.
This
is a fascinating case for students of constitutional interpretation, and it
will be interesting to see its result.
Many
Americans may be surprised to know that current tax-exempt restrictions on church
political activity are only as old as the 1960s. For years pastors and churches had much more
latitude to speak on political issues. For
much of our history pastors would even endorse or criticize candidates from the
pulpit.