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Advocacy Blog
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Church Electioneering Debate in LA Times
In a Los Angeles Times opinion piece, Barry Lynn, executive director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State (AU) and Erik Stanley, head of the Pulpit Initiative for the Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) debate federal tax laws that prohibit clergy members from publicly endorsing political candidates.
Stanley defends ADF's Pulpit Initiative, meant "to restore the right of pastors to speak freely to their congregations. The goal is not to turn churches into political action committees. Rather, the Pulpit Initiative is designed to restore freedom to the pulpit." He goes on to assert that tax exemption is a right, and clergy are being censored. "The point is not whether pastors actually will speak on the issues of candidates and elections (and no one is forcing or telling them to speak about candidates or elections), but whether the government has the right to tell them they cannot under threat of losing their tax-exempt status."
While Lynn reminds us that the prohibition "does not say that pastors, priests, rabbis or imams cannot applaud or denounce policies of the government at any level; it doesn't prohibit clergy specifically arguing that parishioners should support a named and numbered piece of legislation or an upcoming ballot initiative. It just says no help for candidates on the campaign trail with the resources or imprimatur of your church."
See below for an update on the Pulpit Initiative.
Posted by Amanda Adams
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