>Alliance Defense Fund, described by the NY Times as "a consortium of Christian lawyers that fights for conservative religious and social causes," is pursuing an initiative they call "Pulpit Freedom Sunday," in which participating ministers "will preach from their pulpits Sept. 28 about the moral qualifications of candidates seeking political office." Participants will send copies of their sermons to the Internal Revenue Service, intending to provoke a legal challenge to IRS regulations regarding tax-exempt status.
Americans United for Separation of Church and State is actively opposing the initiative through their own Project Fair Play, and are declaring the church initiative a "dud" in their blog.
Interesting to note that the Americans United list of IRS-reported violations is thick with Democrats, most likely reflective of the leanings of the watchdog outfit's membership.
The ADF website describes Sunday's initiative as follows:
The Pulpit Initiative
Reclaiming pastors’ constitutional right to speak Truth from the pulpit.
Radio spots: 30 sec | 60 sec (.mp3)
Historically, churches have emphatically, and with great passion, spoken Scriptural truth from the pulpit about government and culture. Historians have stated that America owes its independence in great degree to the moral force of the pulpit. Pastors have proclaimed Scriptural truth throughout history on great moral issues such as slavery, women’s suffrage, child labor and prostitution. Pastors have also spoken from the pulpit with great frequency for and against various candidates for government office.
All that changed in 1954 with the passage of the “Johnson amendment” which restricted the right of churches and pastors to speak Scriptural truth about candidates for office. The Johnson amendment was proposed by then-Senator Lyndon Johnson, and it changed the Internal Revenue Code to prohibit churches and other non-profit organizations from supporting or opposing a candidate for office. After the Johnson amendment passed, churches faced a choice of either continuing their tradition of speaking out or silencing themselves in order to retain their church’s tax exemption. The Internal Revenue Service, in conjunction with radical organizations like Americans United for Separation of Church and State, have used the Johnson amendment to create an atmosphere of intimidation and fear for any church that dares to speak Scriptural truth about candidates for office or issues.
It is time for the intimidation and threats to end. Churches and pastors have a constitutional right to speak freely and truthfully from the pulpit – even on candidates and voting – without fearing loss of their tax exemption.