The [Alliance Defense Fund] sponsored observance has one goal: to pave the way for Religious Right leaders to forge fundamentalist churches into a disciplined voting bloc . . .
American clergy are perfectly free to address any religious, moral and political issues they wish. The only limitation is that they cannot use their tax-exempt resources to endorse or oppose political candidates . . .
“For some religious conservatives, this policy isn’t just unwise; it’s unconstitutional,” the newspaper continued. “But tax exemption isn’t a constitutional right. It’s the creation of Congress, which has the right to attach conditions to that benefit. Put another way, churches may have a 1st Amendment right to comment on elections, but they don’t have the right to a tax exemption.”
Read more . . .
Always Question Authority
One of the beginnings of human emancipation is the ability to laugh at authority. ~ Hitchens
Always Question Authority 
My appoligies, then, I reacted to the content a little defensively. I do appreciate your explanantion and while I do suspect that we differ in opinions on some topics, I actually do agree with you about this thing (not the revoke of the tax exemption, but rather the church’s responsibility to use resources for church ‘stuff’ and not for anyone’s political gain).
If you feel so inclined, please do check out my blog at http://naturespeaking.wordpress.com/
I have some posts about the Constitution as I endeavor to understand it (as I believe every American should) as well as a variety of other topics. Thanks again for taking the time to explian. Bill.
billnaturallyspeaking,
While I do agree that we differ in opinions, I also appreciate the civility with which we address said disagreements. I did check out your blog, and left a comment, currently awaiting moderation, on your “Memories – like sands through a big old liberal hourglass” post that should stimulate some interest. It may be found here: http://naturespeaking.wordpress.com/2011/08/31/memories-like-sands-through-a-big-old-liberal-hourglass/
In Reason,
Madison
“I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature should ‘make no law respecting an establishment of religion, prohibiting the free exercise thereof,’ thus building a wall of separation between church and State.” This quote is from a Jefferson letter (to a church, ironically); it’s not in the Constitution.
Where, in this article, was it written that “thus building a wall of separation between church and State” was in the Constitution?
You are correct in that it is not stated, therein, but I do contend that it is implied that this IS the viewpoint of the writer. I just wanted to point out, since the article is urging religious institutions not to use their resources for anything political (under the threat of yanking out their tax exempt status), that there is nothing wrong with a Pastor (Constitutionally, that is) making his opinion known to those in attendence as to his politcial views. I see Jefferson’s statement as an intended protection of religious freedom, not intended as keeping faith from Washington.
The main reason for my choosing to post this article was that I felt it very clearly explained the reason why Churches cannot use the pulpit to endorse or oppose political candidates. I was particularly impressed with the following three paragraphs from the article:
“American clergy are perfectly free to address any religious, moral and political issues they wish. The only limitation is that they cannot use their tax-exempt resources to endorse or oppose political candidates.”
“That’s not some sort of onerous government intrusion; it’s just fair governmental application of the same rules that apply to all religious, educational and charitable organizations in the 501(c)(3) category.”
“But
tax exemption isn’t a constitutional right.
It’s the creation of Congress, which has the right to attach conditions to that benefit. Put another way, churches may have a 1st Amendment right to comment on elections, but they don’t have the right to a tax exemption.”
Churches have a constitutional right to preach as they may, but they do not have a constitutional right to tax exempt status. As a matter of fact, I have personally called to revoke the religious tax-exemption in the following essay:
https://alwaysquestionauthority.wordpress.com/2011/09/26/essay-a-call-to-revoke-the-religious-tax-exemption/
Thanks for your comment.