More and more pastors are endorsing particular candidates from the pulpit, purposefully defying the IRS law for non-profit tax-exempt organizations. So far the IRS is ignoring the violations, but the pastors are goading the agency by sending it tapes of their sermons.
Is this a violation of Romans 13? Also, under Romans 13, shouldn’t churches just pay taxes, thus preserving their ability to preach whatever they want? Or can you make a case for this kind of civil disobedience? There is also, of course, the theological issue of what is supposed to be preached from the pulpit–namely, Christ and Him crucified for sinners, as opposed to worldly powers and principalities. Or can you give a theological reason for preaching about political candidates?
From Rogue pastors endorse candidates, but IRS looks away – Rachael Bade – POLITICO.com:
A record number of rogue Christian pastors are endorsing candidates from the pulpit this election cycle, using Sunday sermons to defiantly flout tax rules.
Their message to the IRS: Sue me.
But the tax agency is doing anything but. Although the IRS was sued itself for not enforcing the law and admitted about 100 churches may be breaking the rules, the pastors and their critics alike say the agency is looking the other way. The agency refuses to say if it is acting.
At the same time, the number of pastors endorsing candidates in what they call Pulpit Freedom Sunday jumped from 33 people in 2008 to more than 1,600 this year, according to organizers, Alliance Defending Freedom. And this year, they’ve stepped up their drive, telling pastors to back candidates any Sunday up until the election, not just one Sunday as in past years. . . .
At issue is the churches’ tax break as tax-exempt 501(c)(3) organizations. They don’t pay taxes, and donations to them can be deducted from contributors’ taxable income.
But with that break comes limits on political endorsements. Charities are barred from engaging in political campaigns.
So while pastors can discuss abortion, gay marriage and other controversial issues in their sermons, they’re not allowed to back candidates or use church money to fund campaign activities, and keep their tax break.
“You can’t have a tax-exempt entity engaged in politics because that involves using tax-exempt money for political purposes, so it’s an unfair playing field,” said Annie Laurie Gaylor, co-founder of the Freedom From Religion Foundation, the organization that sued the IRS in 2012 for failing to enforce electioneering restrictions on churches. The group settled this summer with an understanding that the IRS would eventually take action.
So far there’s been no evidence they have. . . .
The pastors, who make it easy for the IRS by often taping their sermons and mailing them to the tax agency, argue that it infringes on their First Amendment rights.
“The church is God’s organization — what right does the government have to control this?” said Rev. Kevin Baird of Legacy Church in Charleston, S.C.
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