Holy Harangue! Pastors preaching politics
November 21, 2012
Testing the mettle of the federal government, some church leaders preached politics from the pulpit during the run-up to the election and are challenging authorities to pull their tax-exempt status. (San Francisco Chronicle)
Federal tax rules mandate that religious groups with tax-exempt privileges are “absolutely prohibited from directly or indirectly participating” in any political campaign or making statements favoring or opposing “any candidate for public office.”
But only one church has had its tax-free status revoked in the 58 years the law has existed.
Through a nationally-organized movement called the “Alliance Defending Freedom,” religious leaders say they will save Americas from “radical anti-Christian groups” and lay waste to “the myth of the so-called separation of church and state.”
At recent services on a day dubbed “Pulpit Freedom Sunday,” 142 pastors of California churches snubbed the law and preached political messages.
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