Politics at the Pulpit
September 26, 2008 by Barbara
Filed under Barbara Schwartz
We’ve been watching news about the Alliance Defense Fund’s campaign to challenge federal tax law by encouraging pastors to preach politics from the pulpit this Sunday.
As reported in The Christian Science Monitor:
The Alliance Defense Fund (ADF), a conservative legal group based in Arizona, recruited the pastors for “Pulpit Freedom Sunday” to press their claim that the IRS tax code violates the free speech of religious leaders.
“I have a First Amendment right to say whatever I want to say, and I’ve never thought it was appropriate that as a pastor I could not share my political concerns with the congregation,” says the Rev. Gus Booth, pastor at Warroad Community Church in Warroad, Minn.
Mr. Booth will endorse Sen. John McCain on Sunday, and has already told his congregation that as Christians, they could not vote for Sen. Barack Obama due to his position on abortion.
Clergy opposed to the ADF’s efforts countered this campaign on Sept. 21 by speaking from their pulpits in support of church-state separation. And according to the AU blog, tax attorneys are sending complaints to the IRS about the move. Blog from the Capitol also has a list of coverage links.
GetReligion is predicts we’ll be seeing quite a bit of coverage on this issue throughout the weekend and into Monday. Keep watching the news — and the pulpit!
What do you think about the issue? Should clergy be able to talk politics at the pulpit? How far should they be able to go? Should religious institutions have a tax exempt status?
Barbara Schwartz is the editorial director at the Xenia Institute. She lives in Oklahoma City, Okla., and currently is pursuing a Master of Divinity degree at Phillips Theological Seminary in Tulsa.
