Churches Choosing to Violate the Law for Partisan Politics

Today some pastors of churches are participating in a movement to violate federal law by endorsing a candidate from the pulpit. They believe that their right to preach as they feel led is being infringed upon. However, what they are choosing to do violates both the separation of church and state and their duty as a pastor to represent their whole congregation.

When a pastor stands in the pulpit she or he is represented God and their congregation. It is their responsibility not to put personal opinions out from the pulpit, to act as if they know the mind of God were the mind of God has not been revealed, or to misrepresent that the members of their church ought to vote for a certain candidate to be a good Christian.

According to Americans United for Separation of Church and State, all non-profit organizations have to follow these same rules of not endorsing candidates. This does not mean a pastor cannot state opinions about legislation, moral issues facing our nation, or other areas of politics. It does mean that the pastor is prohibited from engaging in partisan politics.

"The only thing houses of worship may not do is endorse or oppose candidates for public office or use their resources in partisan campaigns. This restriction, which is found in federal tax law, is not limited to churches and other religious ministries. In fact, it is applied to every non-profit organization in the country that holds a tax exemption under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code.

Contrary to the claims of many in the Religious Right, the IRS is not singling out houses of worship for special regulation. Thousands of educational, scientific, charitable and literary organizations hold the 501(c)(3) status, and all must abide by the legal requirement barring involvement in elections." from AU Website at http://projectfairplay.org/brochure/.

The pastors who choose to endorse a candidate today are irresponsibly risking the loss of their church's tax exempt status. But, far worse they are allowing their own personal politics to take precedence over their call as a pastor to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ.