By Paul Jivoff
Pastor Luke Emrich
AP Photo by Dinesh Ramde
September 28, 2008
As election day approaches, churches across the U.S. are pushing for fewer restraints on their political speech. Pastor Luke Emrich of New Life Church in Wisconsin is one of a group of church leaders challenging the IRS tax code which stipulates that a church can lose its non-profit standing by taking sides in a political campaign.
The AP reports that pastors are moving beyond preaching about issues like abortion, gay marriage, and other traditionally religious concerns, and are recommending candidates from the pulpit. These political sermons all occurred on Pulpit Freedom Sunday as part of a plan by the Alliance Defense Fund intended to begin a legal battle for more church speech rights.
Advocates of the initiative say that the IRS code unconstitutionally interferes with pastors' First Amendment rights. Critics of the initiative warn that, if successful, it could compromise the church's traditional charitable role. Others worry that if this kind of speech is allowed from non-profit churches, it will be tantamount to using taxpayer dollars to support a political campaign.
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