Tara Ross: An “illegal sermon” should be an oxymoron in a country that practices freedom of religion
Tara Ross, writing at AFF Doublethink:
An “illegal sermon” should be an oxymoron in a country that practices freedom of religion, but the Internal Revenue Code forces churches to choose between their tax-exempt status and their religious liberty—at least when it comes to religious speech about political campaigns. Many churches thus abstain from any kind of political commentary. The tax burden associated with free speech is simply too high for these institutions, which depend on the charity of their individual members….
It is not remarkable that two politicians—Jefferson and LBJ—reacted defensively when confronted with tough election fights. What is remarkable is that Americans have allowed political happenstance, not constitutional guidance, to control their ideas of what is permissible in the public square.