Tag Archives: ADF: Erik Stanley

ADF Attorney Erik Stanley at the Speak Up Movement Church Blog: Every time I mention Pulpit Freedom Sunday, I generally get two basic objections to the concept of Pulpit Freedom. Yet these objections in some way are either misguided or just flat out wrong.

ADF Attorney Erik Stanley at Speak Up Movement Church Blog: A total of 539 pastors participated in Pulpit Freedom Sunday which was a massive increase from the 100 pastors that participated last year.

Lewisville Leader: The conference featured speakers including Timothy Barton of WallBuilders, Dr. Robert Jeffress, Senior Pastor of First Baptist Church in Dallas, Kerby Anderson of Point of View Ministries, Erik Stanley of the Alliance Defense Fund, Pastor Geoffrey Cohen of Gateway Church and Dan Panetti, Worldview Director of Prestonwood Christian Academy.

CNN.com: “We basically see Pulpit Freedom Sunday as a means of protecting a pastor’s right to speak freely from the pulpit without fearing government censorship in any way,” said Erik Stanley, ADF’s senior legal counsel and organizer of Pulpit Freedom Sunday.

PR.com: This year’s conference will feature an array of very respected speakers including Timothy Barton of WallBuilders, Dr. Robert Jeffress, Senior Pastor of First Baptist Church in Dallas, Kerby Anderson of Point of View Ministries, Erik Stanley of the Alliance Defense Fund, Pastor Geoffrey Cohen of Gateway Church, and Dan Panetti, Worldview Director of Prestonwood Christian Academy.

WorldNetDaily: A headline in the Washington Times – “IRS Has No Business Censoring Pastors – First Amendment Supersedes Tax Regulation” – accompanies attorney Erik Stanley’s article, which includes the following: “To even suggest that any governmental agency or official has the right to punish a pastor because of something he says from the pulpit is not only offensive but unconstitutional. No pastor should ever have to dance around an issue or self-censor his sermon because of an Internal Revenue Service rule. In America, we value everyone’s constitutionally protected right to free speech and free exercise of religion. Nonetheless, there exists just such an IRS rule. It’s known as the Johnson Amendment. Getting rid of it was the motivation behind the Alliance Defense Fund’s fourth annual Pulpit Freedom Sunday, which took place this past Sunday.

Steve Klingaman at Open Salon: In a move designed to provoke the Internal Revenue Service into action, activist clergymen and women (if there are any women) organized by the hardcore conservative Alliance Defense Fund intend to skirt or cross the line between religious and political speech from the pulpit. But just where is the line? According to IRS regulations, the line is no line in the sand, more serpentine calligraphy in quicksand. In this prohibition, context is everything, and, I’ll warn you, it’s complicated.

Tobin Grant at Christianity Today: “ADF is not trying to get politics into the pulpit. Churches can decide for themselves that they either do or don’t want their pastors to speak about electoral candidates. The point of the Pulpit Initiative is very simple: the IRS should not be the one making the decision by threatening to revoke a church’s tax-exempt status. We need to get the government out of the pulpit,” said Stanley.

ADF Attorney Erik Stanley on the Zeb Bell Show to discuss Pulpit Freedom Sunday. | MP3 audio 18:25 mins

CBN News: The IRS cannot be a content manager or regulator,” Rev. Kevin Baird, Legacy Church in West Ashley, S.C., told The Post and Courier. “There is a legitimate intimidation factor that comes from the IRS and the Left to squelch conservative pastors,” he said.

NYTimes.com: The Alliance Defense Fund, a nonprofit legal defense group whose founders include James Dobson, the founder of Focus on the Family, sponsors the annual event, which started with 33 pastors in 2008. This year, Glenn Beck has been promoting it, calling for 1,000 religious leaders to sign on and generating additional interest at the beginning of a presidential election cycle . . . “It’s frustrating,” said Erik Stanley, senior legal counsel at Alliance Defense. “The law is on the books but they don’t enforce it, leaving churches in limbo.”

God Discussion: On October 2, 2011, pastors across the country are going to participate in a yearly act of civil disobedience: they’re going to risk their 501(c) 3 tax exempt status by openly endorsing or supporting political candidates from the pulpit on Sunday. [embeds ADF video]

The Tennessean | tennessean.com: “The issue of whether the IRS can censor what a pastor says in the pulpit has never been tested in court,” said Erik Stanley, senior legal counsel for the Alliance Defense Fund.

Examiner.com: “Pastors and churches shouldn’t live in fear of being punished or penalized by the government,” said ADF Senior Legal Counsel Erik Stanley. “Churches should be allowed to decide for themselves what they want to talk about. The IRS should not be the one making the decision by threatening to revoke a church’s tax-exempt status. No government-recognized status can be conditioned upon the surrender of a constitutionally protected right. That’s why ADF started Pulpit Freedom Sunday: to get the government out of the pulpits of America.”

TaxProf Blog: Today is the fourth annual Pulpit Freedom Sunday, as 500 pastors plan to discuss politics and candidates in their sermons, flouting the law against campaigning by churches.  New York Times, The Political Pulpit . . . (includes video)

Why pastors shouldn’t play politics from pulpit | Alaska Dispatch: As background, the Alliance Defense Fund argues that no house of worship should ever be taxed by government. And people who donate money to a church should be able to deduct such gifts on their income taxes. It is those donations that are at the heart of the constitutional battle.

More Pastors Sign on to Preach Politics From Pulpit, Christian News: This Sunday, more than 400 pastors will be using their pulpits to preach politics and challenge the Internal Revenue Service’s regulations that restrict religious leaders from endorsing candidates and discussing policies with their congregations . . . “Our goal has always been … to have the Johnson amendment declared unconstitutional,” Stanley said.

To even suggest that any governmental agency or official has the right to punish a pastor because of something he says from the pulpit is not only offensive, but unconstitutional. No pastor should ever have to dance around an issue or to self-censor his sermon when he preaches from the pulpit because of an IRS rule. In America, we value everyone’s constitutionally protected right to free speech and free exercise of religion.

ADF Attorney Erik Stanley and Barry Lynn of Americans United for Separation of Church and State appeared on the Hugh Hewitt Show to discuss Pulpit Freedom Sunday. | MP3 audio 24:55mins

Dakota Voice: Pastors from more than 475 churches nationwide have registered to participate in the Alliance Defense Fund’s fourth annual Pulpit Freedom Sunday on Oct. 2. The total reflects nearly five times as many participants as last year’s total of approximately 100 pastors.

ADF Attorney Erik Stanely at Speak Up Movement Church Blog: Yet a growing nationwide movement of pastors are refusing to be intimidated. They are willing to stand up and exercise their constitutional rights of freedom of speech and free exercise of religion by boldly preaching on Pulpit Freedom Sunday. These pastors are courageously regaining the freedom of the pulpit.

ADF Attorney Erik Stanley on Grounded with Ryan Dobson to discuss the Pulpit Initiative. | MP3 audio 29:36 mins

OneNewsNow.com: “All of this is related to a group called the Tennessee Equality Project that made an effort to unseat some councilmen who were opposed to an ordinance that would have provided preferential treatment for sexual orientation,” explains Erik Stanley, an attorney with the Alliance Defense Fund (ADF). [more quotes from Erik]

Christian Post: Yet Erik Stanley of the Alliance Defense Fund believes the guidelines should be discarded. “Pastors have a right to speak about Biblical truths from the pulpit without fear of punishment,” he said in a statement. Referring to the enforcement of federal tax regulation, Stanley continued, “No one should be able to use the government to intimidate pastors into giving up their constitutional rights.”

Erik Stanley at Townhall: Yet it remains a fact that every Sunday, when pastors in America ascend the pulpit, they face the cruel and unusual prospect of exchanging their natural, God-given right to free speech for a government-ordained lexicon (if they want to keep their tax-exempt status).

Pamela Kimble at Cross Timbers Gazette: On October 20th, Reclaiming Texas For Christ will hold their second annual FREE conference for pastors, lay leaders, and everyday citizens who are concerned about the crumbling of this nation’s spiritual foundation. An impressive array of speakers will headline this year’s conference. In this FREE afternoon conference, attendees will hear from Timothy Barton of nationally recognized WallBuilders, Dr. Robert Jeffress of First Baptist Church in Dallas, Erik Stanley of the Alliance Defense Fund, Pastor Geoffrey Cohen of Gateway Church, Dan Panetti of Prestonwood Church, and talk show host Kerby Anderson of Point of View Ministries.

ADF Attorney Erik Stanley appeared on Koinonea with Tom Brown. | MP3 audio 12:17 mins | The Pulpit Initiative

ADF Attorney Erik Stanley appeared on the Zeb Bell Show to discuss Pulpit Freedom Sunday. | MP3 audio 17:50 mins

OneNewsNow.com: ADF attorney Erik Stanley does not believe pastors and churches should live in fear of being punished or penalized by the government in any way. “Keeping the gospel central to what is preached is not in conflict with addressing the subject of political candidates when that is warranted,” he contends. “These survey results show that the desire to keep the gospel central does not mean that pastors want the IRS to regulate their sermons under the threat of revoking their church’s tax-exempt status.”

Fredericksburg, VA Patch: The Fredericksburg City Council unanimously voted to deny a special use permit to Calvary Christian Center to operate a day school for mentally disabled children on their premises . . . We’re disappointed in the outcome of the vote,” said Eric Stanley, senior legal counsel for the Alliance Defense Fund, a conservative Christian non-profit advocacy group which advocates for religious rights. ADF lawyers are representing Calvary Christian Center in both federal court and at the local level as the church tries to establish the day school. “We were hopeful that the city would agree that that was a resolution of the federal lawsuit and all the other issues, but obviously the city wants to litigate this matter and that’s what we’ll do.” [more . . .]

ADF Attorney Erik Stanley at Townhall : Many of you by now have heard about an event that has taken place each year since 2008 where pastors from across the country look at the positions held by candidates running for office, evaluate how those positions line up with Scripture and, based on that evaluation, either favor or oppose a candidate from the pulpit. The event, sponsored by the Alliance Defense Fund, is called Pulpit Freedom Sunday. This year, it occurs on Oct. 2.

The New Civil Rights Movement: The Alliance Defense Fund (ADF), the conservative Christian lawyers who are supporting Prop 8 in federal court, are beginning a push to force the IRS to end its regulations that prohibit churches and other religious institutions from campaigning. [more . . . ]

89.3 KPCC Southern Cal. Public Radio: A well funded Christian legal defense organization called the Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) is leading the charge to overturn the amendment that bans political speech in churches. For the last 3 years the organization has sponsored an event in which pastors give a political sermon and send the text of their speech to the IRS, hoping to trigger an audit. The ADF then offers free legal services to any pastor that gets audited. So far, the IRS hasn’t taken the bait. According to the ADF, the first amendment trumps tax law and pastors should be able to advocate for whatever they want. | ADF Attorney Erik Stanley and Rob Boston of Americans United for Separation of Church and State were on the program.

New study demonstrates that desire of Christians to keep gospel central does not equal desire for invasive IRS regulation

OneNewsNow.com: “Tax exemptions for churches are vitally important, because it doesn’t make sense to penalize organizations that help serve the community and that don’t exist for profit. That’s certainly true with this church,” Stanley argues. “The taxing authorities in this case determined that the facilities were not integral to a religious purpose of the church, but the government is ill equipped to determine what is and what isn’t a legitimate religious use.”

Erik Stanley at the Speak Up Movement Church Blog: The realm of the Church is being invaded by the realm of the political today. This might seem like a strange statement, but consider this example . . .

The Tennessean (includes photo of Erik): On Friday, the church, armed with lawyers from the conservative Arizona-based Christian legal group The Alliance Defense Fund, took its case to Davidson County Chancery Court and argued that its constitutional rights are being violated. Alliance Defense Fund lawyer Erik Stanley noted that state law exempts college bookstores, hospital gift shops and “family wellness centers” from paying property taxes. “In each of these instances, facilities similarly situated are granted a property tax exemption,” Stanley said. “Where the line is drawn here, it must be drawn consistently.”

ADF attorney available to media after hearing, challenging state officials’ claim that outreach facilities ‘not integral’ part of ministry

ADF Attorney Erik Stanley at Speak Up Movement Church Blog: Over at Dakota Voice, Bob Ellis has an interesting post that details the history of politics from the pulpit in America. Bob does a good job of detailing many of the stories where pastors in American history spoke forcefully and with great conviction from their pulpits about political matters. From the very beginning of our country, pastors spoke from their pulpits about matters of American life and politics that intersected with morality and religion. After reviewing this extensive history, Bob concludes . . .

Jim Garlow at the Speak Up Movement Church Blog: Who is the most courageous pastor in America? There are likely many candidates for this title, but I would nominate Pastor Ruben Diaz of New York City. After you hear what he stands for and what he has endured, you might want to nominate him, too.

Erik Stanley at Speak Up Movement Church Blog : His sermon finished, he offered the benediction, and then deliberately disrobed in front of his congregation, revealing the uniform of a military officer beneath his clerical robes. He descended from the pulpit, marched to the back door of the church, and ordered the drums to beat for recruits.

News from Maine Family Policy Council: Featured on the national webinar will be America’s premier Christian thinker and spokesman, Chuck Colson, Bishop Joe Mattera of New York City, Pastor Benny Tate of Atlanta, GA, and Pastor Jim Franklin of Fresno, CA, along with Attorney Erik Stanley from Leawood, KS.
The second webinar – a Media Training Seminar – at 1 PM Eastern – is for all pastors and Christian leaders who would like to learn how to handle interviews with the media. The facilitator will be Bruce Smith who handles media relations for the 2,000+ allied attorneys of the Alliance Defense Fund. She is remarkably skilled.

ADF Attorney Erik Stanley at Speak Up Movement Church Blog: So why can’t ADF just file a prospective lawsuit against the IRS asking the Court to issue a declaratory judgment that the Johnson Amendment is unconstitutional as applied to a pastor’s sermon? Or why couldn’t ADF file a lawsuit against the IRS and ask the Court for an injunction to stop the IRS from applying the Johnson Amendment to a pastor’s sermon from the pulpit?

ADF attorney Erik Stanley at Speak Up Movement Church Blog: Ask any committed Christian these days and they will tell you that they sense something is wrong in America.

ADF attorney Erik Stanley at Speak Up Movement Church Blog: The passage of the Johnson Amendment in 1954 added a restriction to 501(c)(3) that allows the IRS to censor a pastor’s sermon from the pulpit. That’s what Pulpit Freedom Sunday is intended to address. It doesn’t help for churches to hide their heads in the sand and pretend like the tax code doesn’t apply to them. Instead, churches should stand and boldly confront the unconstitutional restriction and regain the right of pastors to speak freely from their pulpits without any restriction.

The Spiritual Herald: According to the Alliance Defense Fund (ADL), the protest is scheduled to take place in pulpits across the country on Sunday, October 2. The “Freedom Pulpit Sunday” confrontation will take head-on the Internal Revenue Service’s regulation that churches or pastors who endorse political candidates face loss of the church’s tax-exempt status. “We challenge the IRS to remove a church’s tax-exempt status so we can get into court and get the rule declared unconstitutional,” ADL Senior Legal Counsel Erik Stanley told The Spiritual Herald in an exclusive interview.

ADF attorney Erik Stanley on WAVA radio with Don Kroah to discuss the situation. | MP3 audio 13:15 mins

ADF attorney Erik Stanley at The American Thinker: Zoning issues are not a concern, either. Calvary Christian Church has the approval of planning officials because it has met all zoning requirements to run such a facility. So, quite simply, no legitimate reason exists to oppose the opening of this school. There’s no reason to run up a taxpayer tab with needless litigation over a school that wants to help disabled children in need, that meets all safety and zoning requirements, and that is on firm footing under the law to do work that benefits everyone.

Fredericksburg, VA Patch: The church’s lawsuit has been taken on by the Alliance Defense Fund, a Christian non-profit organization which defends issues of religious liberty.
“Churches shouldn’t be singled out for discrimination, especially when attempting to expand their ministries to safely serve the needs of the community–in this case, disabled children,” said ADF Senior Legal Counsel Erik Stanley. “No disabled students would even be on campus at the same time as other students, and the church has the approval of planning officials because it has met all zoning requirements to run such a facility. There’s no legitimate reason for a denial, so the city’s stated reasons only serve to feed old stereotypes about the disabled.”

ADF attorney Erik Stanley appeared on the Global Freedom Report with Brent Johnson to discuss Pulpit Freedom Sunday. | MP3 audio 26 mins

ADF attorney Erik Stanley appeared on the Jody Hice Show to discuss this: Kansas town sued for taxing church attendance. | MP3 audio 16:13 mins

ADF attorney Erik Stanley appeared on the Bott Radio Network with Dick Bott to discuss this: Va. town says church school prohibited because disabled kids would ‘endanger’ other children. | MP3 audio 29:29 mins

One News Now: The city claims that a school for the mentally and emotionally challenged would endanger other children — a charge that ADF senior legal counsel Erik Stanley says is baseless. “No disabled students would even be on campus at the same time as other students,” he points out. “And the church has the approval of planning officials because it has met all the zoning requirements to run such a facility.”

Charisma: The Alliance Defense Fund filed a lawsuit Monday against the city, saying it is violating federal laws and that it has no real reasons to deny the permit.
“Churches shouldn’t be singled out for discrimination, especially when attempting to expand their ministries to safely serve the needs of the community—in this case, disabled children,” ADF Senior Legal Counsel Erik Stanley says.

Speak Up Movement Church Blog: This is truly amazing. The Minnesota Independent reported last week that Minnesota State representative John Kriesel’s office threatened a priest who sent a letter supporting traditional marriage.

Erik Stanley at the Speak Up Movement Church Blog: The IRS seems to have simply ignored Pulpit Freedom Sunday. So what is going through the IRS’ collective mind on this issue? Well, answering that question requires a level of prognostication and insight reserved for the Divine. But I think we can take some educated guesses as to what is going on.

ADF attorney Erik Stanley appeared on the Janet Mefferd Show. | MP3 audio 18:50 mins | National Day of Prayer | Save the National Day of Prayer

ADF Attorney Erik Stanley appeared on KFUO with Roland Lettner. | MP3 audio 24 mins | ADF Pulpit Initiative | National Day of Prayer | Save the National Day of Prayer

One News Now: Churches shouldn’t be singled out for discrimination by a county’s zoning decisions,” contends Erik Stanley, ADF attorney and spokesman for Holiness is the Way Ministries. “This is especially true when the church has already received all the recommended approvals through the appropriate channels and…no other legitimate reason for denial has been given.”

Times-Herald.com: “ADF attorneys argue that the county’s refusal is once again in violation of the U.S. Constitution and the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act, a federal law that prevents zoning officials from singling out churches for discriminatory treatment,” said ADF Senior Legal Counsel Erik Stanley. “Churches shouldn’t be singled out for discrimination by a county’s ongoing decisions,” said Stanley. “This is especially true when the church has already received all the recommended approvals through the appropriate channels and no other legitimate reason for denial has been given. “The county must learn to abide by the U.S. Constitution and federal law, which prohibits this kind of discriminatory treatment of churches.”

ADF attorneys file second suit against Coweta County this year for prohibiting new church building

ADF attorney Erik Stanley writes at the Speak Up Movement Church Blog: My colleague David Cortmanposted a blog about the recent Supreme Court victory in ACSTO v. Winn.  As he points out, there are many great things to celebrate about that case.  I thought I would highlight one other positive development from that case . . .

El Paso Times: But Erik Stanley, senior legal counsel for the Washington, D.C.-based Alliance Defense Fund, said he does not believe Brown broke IRS rules. His organization considers those IRS rules “suspect.” “We think the IRS’ ability to censor what churches say is unconstitutional,” he said.

ParkerLiveOnline.com: Erik Stanley, the ADF attorney bringing the suit, says Assessor George Nault “sat on the paperwork for three years”. The following video was produced by the Alliance Defense Fund . . .

ADF attorney Erik Stanley appeared on the Jody Hice Show to discuss this: Kansas town sued for taxing church attendance. | MP3 audio 16:34 mins

ADF attorney Erik Stanley appeared on the “Complete Story” with Dick Bott to discuss this: ADF files suit to protect Ariz. church from foreclosure based on $50K illegal tax bill. | MP3 audio 29:12 mins

ADF attorney Erik Stanley appeared on the Janet Mefferd Show to discuss this: ADF files suit to protect Ariz. church from foreclosure based on $50K illegal tax bill | MP3 audio 19:17 mins

ADF attorney Erik Stanley appeared on “In the Market” with Janet Parshall to discuss this: Kansas town sued for taxing church attendance. | MP3 audio 14:35 mins

ADF attorney Erik Stanley appeared on the Hugh Hewitt Show to discuss this: ADF files suit to protect Ariz. church from foreclosure based on $50K illegal tax bill. | MP3 audio 5:40 mins

ADF attorney Erik Stanley at the Speak Up Movement Church Blog (includes video): The Church’s story in this case is truly remarkable.  The County had no basis to assess the property taxes against the Church in the first place and the Church faces the very real prospect of losing everything because the County refuses to correct its own wrongdoing. Take a minute and view the video about the Church of the Isaiah 58 Project and what it is doing to be the hands and feet of Jesus Christ in its community . . .

One News Now: ADF attorney Erik Stanley explains the situation. “The assessor responded by sitting on the paperwork for three years and then only granted the church a property tax exemption for the tax years of 2009 and forward, assessed the church over $50,000 in property taxes for the time that he sat on the church’s application, didn’t act on it, and that resulted in a tax lien that was put on the property.”

Alliance Defense Fund attorneys filed suit against La Paz County Wednesday for hitting a rural Arizona church with a $50,000 tax bill that the state agrees the church does not owe. The bill has resulted in a tax lien on the church’s property which could result in foreclosure and an end to the church’s ministry, including its outreach to the needy–a program praised by the Quartzsite mayor, town manager, and police chief.

Fox News carries this video that features ADF Attorney Erik Stanley. Related ADF Press Release: Kansas town sued for taxing church attendance

Fox News: Erik Stanley walked up Woodson Road in Mission, Kansas, surveying the church parking lot at St. Pius X Catholic Church. He said the government can tax your life and can tax your death, but they’re not supposed to tax your church. And that’s exactly what he said is happening in Mission.
“The city of Mission is taxing churches,” he said. “And that’s clearly unconstitutional.”