Today, the Becket Fund challenged the Internal Revenue Service to investigate Calvary Assembly of God in Algoma, Wisconsin, because Pastor Kenneth Taylor dared to use his pulpit to preach on the moral implications of a political campaign.
In an open letter published in this morning's Wall Street Journal, Pastor Taylor, who is being defended by The Becket Fund, said:
"Preaching about politics from the pulpit has always been a part of freedom of speech and freedom of religion in this country... As a preacher, I am obliged to say something about it, and I shouldn't have to worry about how the government might retaliate," said Pastor Taylor. "Last election I delivered a sermon... I challenge you - if you still think it's the law - to investigate what I preached that day."
From Rev. John Witherspoon, a Presbyterian minister and a signer
of the Declaration of Independence, and the New England ministers who
fought for the abolition of slavery, to the Civil Rights movement,
religious activists have used their pulpits to shape this country.
But in 1954, recently-reelected Sen. Lyndon Baines Johnson, Texas
Democrat and Senate Majority Leader, changed the tax-code to retaliate
against a tax-exempt charity that had opposed his candidacy. LBJ's law
states that non-profits, including houses of worship, shall not
"intervene in" any political campaign. Fair enough. But clergy speaking
to their congregations is not the same as a church, as a legal entity,
endorsing a candidate.
For 50 years the IRS has used an extremely broad interpretation of the tax code to censor and intimidate religious leaders of every faith.
"Churches and other houses of worship have always been unique places where Americans discuss how their deepest beliefs intersect with their daily lives," said Becket Fund President Kevin Hasson. "The IRS should not be allowed to stop that conversation by threatening to strip a church's tax exemption."
Was Pastor Taylor's sermon illegal and deserving of censorship or an exercise of religious liberty protected since the founding?
