Houses of worship, like other non-profit organizations, pay no federal income tax and can promise tax deductions to their donors. In return, the IRS forbids churches from attempting to “influence legislation as a substantial part of its activities” or “participate in any campaign activity for or against political candidates.”

Before I attempt to tear this argument to shreds, I need to explain where I am coming from. I attend a Pentecostal church. The church believes in the Bible and what it says about the moral issues that all of us deal with every day. Sometimes those moral issues are reflected in laws that are proposed or in political platforms. Isn’t it a pastor’s obligation to speak out concerning those issues?

The freedom of speech of pastors should not have any relation to their tax-exempt status. To connect those two things is to allow the IRS to control what is said in the pulpits of America. That is ridiculous.

I would also like to point out that all churches do not believe the same things. There is probably as much of the political spectrum represented in the pulpit as there is in the general population of America, so why do we need to restrict speech in our churches?

The Tennessean reported today:

The ban on nonprofit political endorsements dates to the 1950s. Lyndon B. Johnson was mad at nonprofits that opposed his re-election, so “he rammed these rules through to punish his opponents,” said Richard Hammar, editor of Church Law and Tax Report.

The IRS has not punished any pastors involved in Pulpit Freedom events. Hammar said both conservative and liberal churches often ignore the ban without consequences.

It is time to repeal this law. The church was the moral compass of colonial America. Our founders would be appalled at the idea that pastors would be prevented from speaking out on political issues. It wasn’t at all what they had in mind.