LA Times: Do tax laws gag the clergy?

The LA Times has this series discussing issues pertaining to ADF’s Pulpit Initiative. The series is introduced as follows:

Barry Lynn [of Americans United for the Separation of Church and State] says there’s a clear and proper line between advocating issues and stumping for candidates. Erik Stanley [of the Alliance Defense Fund] said that line amounts to an intolerable restraint on speech.

Today’s question: Is federal tax law too restrictive on clergy who publicly endorse political candidates or voter initiatives?

All week, Barry W. Lynn and Erik Stanley discuss the friction between church and state over the issue of political speech from the pulpit.

Barry writes: “Perhaps you would also recall John F. Kennedy’s famous statement in 1960 that he believed in an America ‘where the separation of church and state was absolute … where no Catholic prelate would tell the president how to act … and no Protestant clergyman would tell his congregation for whom to vote.’”

Erik writes: “The point is not whether pastors actually will speak on the issues of candidates and elections (and no one is forcing or telling them to speak about candidates or elections), but whether the government has the right to tell them they cannot under threat of losing their tax-exempt status, which is not a gift but a right.”

This post may be updated.