The Sunday Star Tribune front page lead story was "When campaign and cross unite." It dealt with the MFC's efforts to promote informed voting by churchmembers, among other things. Of course, this is viewed as such a novel, almost exotic idea that it invariably garners a lot of media attention every general election cycle.
I think the ongoing media fascination with church involvement stems from the faulty notion of the separation of church and state and the postmodern mindset that faith is a purely private matter which shouldn't be promoted publicly, especially when it comes to politics. This is a historically incorrect understand of the US Constitution's Establishment Clause which was intended to keep the institutions of church and state separate in order to protect religious liberties not muzzle the expression of religious based public views and positions.
One thing which has increased interest, at least at a low level, is the effort by the Alliance Defense Fund to challenge the IRS' 1954 gag rule prohibiting churches and pastors from speaking in support or opposition to particular candidates. The rule which is seldom enforced, and when done so inconsistently, has been used to intimidate churches and pastors to remain silent on on public issues and election involvement in general. The lawsuit will either strike down the rule or force the IRS to clarify exactly what pastors and churches can and can not say and do.
I recently read about the controversy in the 1984 elections when Reagan was very outspoken on the importance of faith in our public life and Mondale argued faith was a private matter which shouldn't be brought into the public arena. This controversy is nothing new.
The mix of religious and politics are as old as the Republic. In further blog posts I'll explore some of the differing opinions among evangelicals on the proper relationship between faith and politics.
Showing posts with label Alliance Defense Fund. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Alliance Defense Fund. Show all posts
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
Saturday, June 21, 2008
Caution - separation anxiety ahead
Well, the news is finally out. According to the Jewish Daily, the Alliance Defense Fund has recruited 50 pastors to deliver sermons in September that will include direct endorsements of political candidates.
Pastor Gus Booth of Warroad, (Pastor Booth was our guest on a trip to David Barton’s Congressional Pastor’s Briefing last fall.) was the first shot across the bow.
Caution – separation anxiety ahead.
This bold move is sure to cause a severe case of separation anxiety for the IRS, the First Amendment and revisionist history. But let’s start with a short history lesson.
I want to encourage everyone that has a dog in this hunt to educate themselves regarding the origins of the IRS code. It's an historical fact that it was legal for pastors to endorse candidates and preach on the political issues of the day until then Senator Lyndon Johnson inserted language into the IRS code that prohibited non-profits, including churches, from endorsing or opposing candidates for political office.
“The history of Johnson’s IRS gag order is instructive,” writes Kasey Kelly. "It began with what some historians believe to be a fraudulent election of Johnson to the Senate in 1948. It has been maintained by both conservative and liberal historians that Lyndon Johnson’s election to the Senate in 1948 was won by massive voter fraud. Known as “Landslide Lyndon,” this aspiring politician was “elected” by only 87 votes. His challenger, Coke Stevenson, challenged his election and presented credible evidence that hundreds of votes for Johnson had been faked. Johnson, however, was successful in blocking Stevenson’s effort by the clever use of “cooperative” court injunctions.”
Mean-spirited gag-order
“In 1954, Johnson was facing re-election to the Senate and was being aggressively opposed by two non-profit anti-Communist groups that were attacking Johnson’s liberal agenda. In effect, Senator Johnson used the power of the go-along Congress and the IRS to silence his opposition. Unfortunately, it worked. Some in Johnson’s staff claimed that Johnson never intended to go after churches, only the two “nonprofits” in Texas. Nevertheless, his sly amendment to the tax code affected every church in America, and it is a violation of the First Amendment of the Constitution of the United States.”
Although the law has been tested, recent decisions have actually strengthened it by prohibiting political campaign activity by charities and churches by defining a 501(c)(3) organization as one "which does not participate in, or intervene in (including the publishing or distributing of statements), any political campaign on behalf of (or in opposition to) any candidate for public office."
Pastor Gus Booth of Warroad, (Pastor Booth was our guest on a trip to David Barton’s Congressional Pastor’s Briefing last fall.) was the first shot across the bow.
Caution – separation anxiety ahead.
This bold move is sure to cause a severe case of separation anxiety for the IRS, the First Amendment and revisionist history. But let’s start with a short history lesson.
I want to encourage everyone that has a dog in this hunt to educate themselves regarding the origins of the IRS code. It's an historical fact that it was legal for pastors to endorse candidates and preach on the political issues of the day until then Senator Lyndon Johnson inserted language into the IRS code that prohibited non-profits, including churches, from endorsing or opposing candidates for political office.
“The history of Johnson’s IRS gag order is instructive,” writes Kasey Kelly. "It began with what some historians believe to be a fraudulent election of Johnson to the Senate in 1948. It has been maintained by both conservative and liberal historians that Lyndon Johnson’s election to the Senate in 1948 was won by massive voter fraud. Known as “Landslide Lyndon,” this aspiring politician was “elected” by only 87 votes. His challenger, Coke Stevenson, challenged his election and presented credible evidence that hundreds of votes for Johnson had been faked. Johnson, however, was successful in blocking Stevenson’s effort by the clever use of “cooperative” court injunctions.”
Mean-spirited gag-order
“In 1954, Johnson was facing re-election to the Senate and was being aggressively opposed by two non-profit anti-Communist groups that were attacking Johnson’s liberal agenda. In effect, Senator Johnson used the power of the go-along Congress and the IRS to silence his opposition. Unfortunately, it worked. Some in Johnson’s staff claimed that Johnson never intended to go after churches, only the two “nonprofits” in Texas. Nevertheless, his sly amendment to the tax code affected every church in America, and it is a violation of the First Amendment of the Constitution of the United States.”
Although the law has been tested, recent decisions have actually strengthened it by prohibiting political campaign activity by charities and churches by defining a 501(c)(3) organization as one "which does not participate in, or intervene in (including the publishing or distributing of statements), any political campaign on behalf of (or in opposition to) any candidate for public office."
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