Church and politics should mix!

Church and politics should mix!

When it comes to politics, pastors and churches should just shut up.

That's the message many liberal watchdog groups hope will resonate with churches during this election season.

In fact, in Iowa a few weeks ago, pastors who were supporting former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee's presidential bid received two ominous warning letters asserting that their involvement in the state primary could jeopardize the tax-exempt status of their churches.

One of the letters actually stated that pastors could be prosecuted and thrown in the "slammer" for supporting Huckabee, while the other letter alleged that the IRS was searching for churches that were illegally backing candidates.

These letters were completely groundless and simply designed to intimidate pastors into unnecessary silence.

And while such threats are "baseless," says Mathew Staver, founder of Liberty Counsel and dean of the Liberty University School of Law, "they do illustrate the increasing role that pastors play in politics and the attempts by some to silence them."

Liberty Counsel has, for years, been working to instruct pastors of their rights in terms of political action and outreach.

Mr. Staver says that history does not support the baseless threats often hurled against pastors and churches.

Since 1934, he notes that the lobbying restriction was added to the Internal Revenue Code, or IRC. However, not one church has ever lost its tax-exempt status as a result of the restriction.

Since 1954, when the political endorsement/opposition prohibition was added, only one church has ever lost its IRS letter ruling, he says.

But even that church (the Church at Pierce Creek in New York) did not lose its tax-exempt status. The church got in trouble when it placed two church-sponsored full-page ads opposing then-Gov. Bill Clinton's presidential campaign in two national newspapers. The IRS revoked the church's letter ruling but not its tax-exempt status.

So what can pastors and churches legally do during the political season?

Plenty.

Mr. Staver says that while churches may not endorse or oppose candidates for elective office, pastors can: preach on biblical and moral issues (such as traditional marriage or abortion), urge constituents to register and vote, discuss positions of the candidates, even personally endorse candidates.

Further, churches are permitted to distribute nonpartisan voter guides, register voters, provide transportation to the polls, hold candidate forums and introduce visiting candidates. Churches may also promote and endorse pending legislation on issues such as marriage amendments or initiatives.

The only limitation, says Mr. Staver, is that churches may not devote more than a substantial part of their overall activity to lobbying. And it's important to note that no church in our nation's history has ever lost its tax exemption for engaging in too much lobbying.

"Pastors should throw away the muzzles that some wish to impose on them and replace them with megaphones," says Mr. Staver. "It was sermons of pastors that fueled the American Revolution. America needs her pastors to once again speak up and address the religious and moral issues of the day. It is far more likely to be struck by lightning twice than for churches to lose their tax-exempt status over political issues."

I encourage pastors and church leaders to visit the Liberty Counsel website to learn more about your rights. The site also contains voter information guides. There's no need to fear these fringe groups that want to bully pastors into silence when the fact is we have the right to address political concerns in a variety of ways.