Politics To The Pulpit

Bringing Politics To The Pulpit

Posted: Sep 28, 2008 08:37 PM CDT
Updated: Sep 28, 2008 08:39 PM CDT


Pastors all across the country are choosing to bring politics to the pulpit by taking part in "Pulpit Freedom Sunday."
By Jon Jordan, NEWS 9
OKLAHOMA CITY -- Pastors all across the country are choosing to bring politics to the pulpit by taking part in "Pulpit Freedom Sunday." This movement was created to try and an erase a 54-year-old law that prevents pastors from preaching politics.
Sunday morning, Pastor Paul Blair gave a different type of sermon at the Fairview Baptist Church. The sermon had him endorsing a candidate for president, something the law makes clear he isn't supposed to do.
But Pastor Blair didn't stop there. He also went ahead and outlined the differences between the two candidates for president.
Pastor Blair brought up gay marriage and told his congregation it would be a mistake to vote for Senator Obama because in his words Obama "doesn't defend the sanctity of the home."
"As a Christian, a born again believer in Jesus Christ, as a citizen of the United States of America, I will be casting my vote in the November election for the patriot John Sydney McCain, not for Barack Hussein Obama," Pastor Blair said during his sermon.
According to the IRS, the law specifically states a pastor speaking from the pulpit cannot endorse a candidate nor should he compare voting records of candidates.
After Pastor Blair gave his sermon, he received a big cheer from those in the church. His members were very supportive.
However, because he gave the sermon, he does put his church at a financial risk. Pastor Blair is believed to be one of hundreds of other pastors in 22 states taking part in "Pulpit Freedom Sunday."

Pastors Flout Tax Law With Political Sermons

CROWN POINT, Ind., Sept. 28 -- Defying a federal law that prohibits U.S. clergy from endorsing political candidates from the pulpit, an evangelical Christian minister told his congregation Sunday that voting for Sen. Barack Obama would be evidence of "severe moral schizophrenia."
The Rev. Ron Johnson Jr. told worshipers that the Democratic presidential nominee's positions on abortion and gay partnerships exist "in direct opposition to God's truth as He has revealed it in the Scriptures." Johnson showed slides contrasting the candidates' views but stopped short of endorsing Obama's Republican opponent, Sen. John McCain.
Johnson and 32 other pastors across the country set out Sunday to break the rules, hoping to generate a legal battle that will prompt federal courts to throw out a 54-year-old ban on political endorsements by tax-exempt houses of worship.
The ministers contend they have a constitutional right to advise their worshipers how to vote. As Johnson put it during a break between sermons, "The point that the IRS says you can't do it, I'm saying you're wrong."
The campaign, organized by the Alliance Defense Fund, a socially conservative legal consortium based in Arizona, has gotten the attention of the Internal Revenue Service. The agency, alerted by opponents, pledged to "monitor the situation and take action as appropriate."
Each campaign season brings allegations that a member of the clergy has crossed a line set out in a 1954 amendment to the tax code that says nonprofit, tax-exempt entities may not "participate in, or intervene in . . . any political campaign on behalf of any candidate for public office."
This time, the church action is concerted. Yet while the ministers say the rules stifle religious expression, their opponents contend that the tax laws are essential to protect the separation of church and state. They say political speech should not be supported by a tax break for the churches or the worshipers who are contributing to a political cause.