Tag Archives: ADF: Pulpit Initiative

Barry Lynn of AU at Washington Post: Every year, the Alliance Defending Freedom, a Religious Right legal group founded by radio and TV preachers, hosts “Pulpit Freedom Sunday.” During this euphemistically named and highly choreographed event, a handful of misguided pastors openly break the law by endorsing or opposing candidates from the pulpit. Some send their sermons to the IRS and occasionally even send me a copy so I can forward them to the IRS. These churches didn’t just go up to the line, they leaped right over it.

Barry Lynn at the Huffington Post: But some houses of worship do it anyway. They openly violate the law and even brag about it. One Religious Right outfit, the Alliance Defending Freedom, even sets aside a Sunday each year to encourage political chicanery. This is not a secret. Americans United has been pressing the IRS to put a stop to this for years. The agency continues to drag its feet.

Edmond Sun: Speakers for the event will Blair on the topic of “What Did the Founders Think? The Biblical Foundation of Government,” while Dan Fisher, pastor of Trinity Baptist Church in Yukon and a state representative for District 60, will speak on “What Did the Founders Do? The Black Robed Regiment.” Erik Stanley, an attorney and senior legal counsel for the Alliance Defending Freedom, will speak on the topic “What Can We Do? The Rights of Christians and Pastors in 2013.”

Erik Stanley at Speak Up Movement: But what should be reported is that the targeting by the IRS goes even deeper than what is just reported. Because the IRS has been targeting churches since the passage of the Johnson Amendment in 1954. There is no difference between what the IRS has been caught doing with conservative groups and what the IRS has done to churches for the last 59 years. Both are intimidation.

NRB: Our hearts join Jim’s and the tremendous number of others who are mourning the death of Carol Garlow,” commented Alliance Defending Freedom President, CEO, and General Counsel Alan Sears. “Her unwavering faith and perseverance was an example to many. She loved God, was a pillar of strength for her husband, and had an immense impact, including upon those of us who have worked closely with the Garlows in support of religious freedom. Our prayers are with Jim and the entire Garlow family.”

MinnPost: This past October, just a month before the election, the Alliance Defending Freedom, a very far-right religious organization in this country, prodded more than 1,500 clergy to stand up in their pulpit and directly oppose President Obama for re-election. We have filed many a complaint on the pastors to the IRS and we are a little frankly disappointed that so far we have not seen any action. MP: It’s interesting that you mentioned the Alliance. They were active here in the last two electoral cycles working to loosen our campaign finance and public disclosure laws in preparation for some of the issues on the Minnesota ballot. Is there a countervailing force?

Christian Post: “Our hearts join Jim’s and the tremendous number of others who are mourning the death of Carol Garlow,” said Alliance Defending Freedom President, CEO, and General Counsel Alan Sears in a statement. “Her unwavering faith and perseverance was an example to many. She loved God, was a pillar of strength for her husband, and had an immense impact, including upon those of us who have worked closely with the Garlows in support of religious freedom. Our prayers are with Jim and the entire Garlow family.”

Washington Times: Fortunately, however, groups are beginning to pop up all over the nation, such as the Alliance Defense Fund, who held their fourth annual “Pulpit Initiative” to challenge the IRS into forgoing this Unconstitutional power. There also is HR 127, a bill to repeal the Johnson Amendment, which has been proposed by Rep. Walter Jones of North Carolina’s Third District.

Speak Up Movement: You may be tempted to think if marriage is redefined to include same-sex couples, then the whole issue may just go away and the two sides can come to some sort of grudging peace. Everyone can get on with their lives, right? Well, not so fast. One of the things that is often overlooked in the debate over marriage is the effect redefining marriage will have on religious freedom. In short, redefining marriage to include same-sex couples poses a significant threat to religious freedom. Examples abound to illustrate this fact . . .

Erik Stanley at Speak Up Movement: America is in the midst of a debate on the definition of marriage, the foundation for a stable society and a stable home.  Americans desperately need to hear from their pastors what God says about marriage, the institution He created. This year, our country faces one of the most pressing issues in our history as efforts are underway to radically redefine the institution of marriage, the relationship that God established long ago in the Garden of Eden even before the Fall of mankind. . . . With all this in mind, Pulpit Freedom Sunday 2013 will be a Sunday focused on marriage.

Erik Stanley on Wallbuilders Live to discuss the Pulpit Freedom Initiative. | MP3 10:46 mins

RealTruth.org: Partly as a result of this action, ministers across America risked their status as tax-exempt charities and tackled politics from the pulpit: “About 1,600 pastors across the country violated a 58-year-old ban on political endorsements by churches in October by explicitly backing political candidates in their Sunday sermons, according to the Alliance Defending Freedom of Scottsdale, Ariz., a conservative Christian legal organization behind a campaign called Pulpit Freedom Sunday” (NBC News).

Jordan Lorence at National Review: Call the ACLU and Barry Lynn right now! Some religious fanatic is urging Congress to enact laws imposing his narrow biblical morality on the rest of us. Doesn’t he know we have an Establishment Clause protecting us from such crassfundamentalism? This Taliban-like pastor, probably poised to use tactics vaguely reminiscent of the Inquisition, is the Reverend Gary Hall, the dean of the Washington National Cathedral, and a leader in the Episcopal Church.

Erik Stanley at Speak Up Movement: This lawsuit is really about two things. First, it is about generating publicity for Freedom From Religion Foundation. A quick lawsuit, even if it gets dismissed at a later point, can earn some headlines. But secondly, this lawsuit is about fostering FFRF’s radical agenda. FFRF, a group of radical separationist atheists, envisions a future where the tax code is used against churches and pastors to punish them for speaking out on issues of candidates and elections.

Edwin Ekene at allAfrica.com: Actually, it was a debate between Erik Stanley, the head of the Pulpit Initiative for Alliance Defense Fund, a legal alliance of Christian attorneys in the United States, and Rev. Barry W. Lynn, the Executive Director of Americans United for the Separation of Church and State. The title of the debate, which was published in the Los Angeles Times of September 23, 2008, was, “Why Don’t Churches Pay Taxes?”

God Discussion: At Alliance Defending Freedom, we see the dark legal clouds gathering across our nation, threatening your religious freedom. That’s why we created SpeakUpFreedom.org. . .

Erik Stanley at LifeNews: Well, ninety days have come and gone since over 1,500 pastors participated in Pulpit Freedom Sunday on October 7,2012. And the IRS has not taken any action against any of the pastors who participated. Actually, the title of this blog post could have been “Four years and Counting” because Alliance Defending Freedom first launched Pulpit Freedom Sunday in 2008.

Mercury News: “Since 1954 and the Johnson Amendment, the IRS has set itself up as the pulpit police,” said Erik Stanley, senior legal counsel for Alliance, which has about 2,200 lawyers assisting with the initiative. Stanley said his group supports the free-speech rights of pastors on both sides of the political aisle. “Pulpit Freedom Sunday is really all about protecting a pastor’s right to speak freely from the pulpit and not be intimidated or censored by the government for doing so,” he said. His group at some point wants to generate a “test case” in hopes of having the Johnson Amendment declared unconstitutional. Alliance may indeed have a case.

Cafardi, Nicholas P., Saving the Preachers: The Tax Code’s Prohibition on Church Electioneering (2012). Duquesne University Law Review, Vol. 50, p. 503, 2012; Duquesne University School of Law Research Paper No. 2012-16. Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=2181557

David Skeel at the Wall Street Journal: Consider it a refreshing postelection case of strange bedfellows. For four years, a Christian group called the Alliance Defending Freedom has tried to get courts to review a law that prohibits churches from electioneering. The alliance’s strategy was to goad the IRS into enforcing the law, but the IRS wouldn’t bite. Last week, however, a secular group called the Freedom From Religion Foundation may have forced the IRS’s hand by suing it for this same failure to enforce.

Press Enterprise: The movement, called Pulpit Freedom Sunday and organized by the Arizona-based Christian legal group Alliance Defending Freedom, encourages pastors to “preach a biblically based sermon regarding candidates and the election without fearing that the IRS will investigate or punish the church,” according to the group’s website.

Newsmax: The Pulpit Freedom Sunday movement, organized by an Arizona-based Christian legal group called Alliance Defending Freedom, was designed in support of an alliance court challenge to a section of the IRS tax code regulating political activities on the part of churches and religious groups that are granted tax-exempt status.

The Guardian: So, when the IRS sits on its hands while Illinois Bishop Daniel Jenky commands all the priests in his diocese to read an anti-Obama letter at mass; when the IRS pretends not to be interested while Billy Graham runs full-page ads in national newspapers on the eve of the election whose message is a transparent endorsement of Mitt Romney; when the IRS has nothing to say about the fact that on 7 October, at least 1,000 pastors participated in “Pulpit Freedom Sunday” by explicitly endorsing political candidates from their pulpits – we can only suppose that the IRS has decided to ignore its own code.

NBC Bay Area: The movement, called Pulpit Freedom Sunday and organized by the Arizona-based Christian legal group Alliance Defending Freedom, encourages pastors to “preach a biblically based sermon regarding candidates and the election without fearing that the IRS will investigate or punish the church,” according to the group’s website.

AllGov.com: In its civil complaint, the Freedom From Religion Foundation claims the IRS is failing to collect $100 billion a year by permitting churches to maintain tax-exempt status, even though many are violating rules that prohibit tax-exempt entities from engaging in electioneering speech.

California Family Council: Black Protestants, according to Pew, are twice as likely as churchgoers overall to hear about candidates at church. Among regular churchgoers, four-in-10 (40 percent) black Protestants say their clergy have spoken directly about the candidates, compared with 17 percent of white Catholics, 12 percent of white evangelicals and just 5 percent of white mainline Protestants.

Everyday Christian: Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) started Pulpit Freedom Sunday in 2008 to challenge the 1954 Johnson Amendment that prohibits tax-exempt churches from making political endorsements. ADF hoped the IRS would take action so that a lawsuit could be filed that would repeal the law. “It’s outrageous for pastors and churches to be threatened or punished by the government for applying biblical teachings to all areas of life, including candidates and elections,” ADF legal counsel Erik Stanley told Focus on the Family’s Citizen Link last month. He added that the purpose of the October event was “to make sure that the pastor, and not the IRS, decides what is said from the pulpit.”

World: “It’s outrageous for pastors and churches to be threatened or punished by the government for applying biblical teachings to all areas of life, including candidates and elections,” ADF legal counsel Erik Stanley told Focus on the Family’s Citizen Link last month. He added that the purpose of the October event was “to make sure that the pastor, and not the IRS, decides what is said from the pulpit.”

Nick Vadala at The Philly Post: Headed up by the Alliance Defending Freedom, a conservative Christian group out of Arizona, the stunt essentially makes a mockery out of the IRS’s code enforcement. Most endorsements, unsurprisingly, go to Romney or Republicans generally, but that’s beside the point. Endorsement on either side is simply against the law . . . Erik Stanley of the ADF told the Washington Times that the FFRF’s lawsuit “borders on frivolous” and that it probably will go nowhere in court. There’s also very little chance that the FFRF will be able to prove they’ve been done damage by the IRS’s un-enforcement of the Johnson Amendment. But even if they could, as much as I hate to say it, he’s right about the lawsuit missing the mark . . . All I hear when pastors endorse Romney (or Obama, or Jill Stein, or whoever) is “charge us, we would like to contribute to the society that pays our way.” Let the ADF think they’re freedom fighters for the religious set; it’ll cost them eventually.

Tennessean: The preachers and their allies at Alliance Defending Freedom, a Scottsdale, Arizona-based Christian legal group, say the ban is unconstitutional. More than 1,000 preachers nationwide endorsed candidates in this year’s Pulpit Freedom Sunday, in hopes of prompting IRS investigations. So far the IRS has not responded. Now those preachers may have their day in court, with help from an unlikely source – the Freedom from Religion Foundation.

God Discussion Blog: For the past few years, religious right groups have been encouraging pastors to endorse candidates and political matters from the pulpit during “Pulpit Freedom Sunday.” The effort has been spearheaded by the Christian advocacy group, Alliance Defending Freedom (formerly known as the Alliance Defense Fund) and actively promoted by groups such as Liberty Counsel. At least 1,500 pastors reportedly participated in “Pulpit Freedom Sunday” this year, on October 7.

Washington Times: “I think the lawsuit itself really borders on frivolous. I don’t know how the FFRF can claim they’ve been harmed by the IRS‘ refusal to enforce the Johnson Amendment,” Mr. Stanley said. “But, on the chance it does, then we will seek to protect those churches.”

One News Now: “Well, I think this is just further evidence that groups like Freedom From Religion Foundation or Americans United for Separation of Church and State are trying to use the Johnson Amendment in the tax code as a tool of intimidation to silence and censor churches,” contends Erik Stanley, senior counsel with the Alliance Defending Freedom.

AP: The lawsuit also refers to “Pulpit Freedom Sunday,” a national event on Oct. 7 in which more than 1,500 pastors endorsed a candidate from the pulpit and then sent a record of their statement to the IRS, hoping their challenge would eventually end up in court. The Alliance Defending Freedom, a conservative Christian legal organization based in Scottsdale, Ariz., has organized the event since 2008. The group considers the IRS regulations against bringing partisan politics to the pulpit an unconstitutional government intrusion.

Religion Clause Blog: The Freedom From Religion Foundation yesterday announced that it has filed suit in a Wisconsin federal district court against the Internal Revenue Service challenging its failure to enforce against churches and religious organizations the electioneering restrictions applicable to tax-exempt non-profit organizations under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code.

Erik Stanley appeared on the Drew Mariani Show to discuss Pulpit Freedom Sunday. | MP3 audio 14:30 mins

Wisc. State Journal: Clark had intended to participate in “Pulpit Freedom Sunday,” a national effort by Alliance Defending Freedom to trigger a legal challenge to an IRS law that bars tax-exempt entities from endorsing political candidates.

Freedom from Religion Foundation: In letters to the Internal Revenue Service, the Freedom From Religion Foundation has reported possible illegal political campaign intervention by Catholic bishops in Green Bay and Madison, Wis. In a Nov. 1 letter to the IRS office in Dallas which oversees “exempt organizations classification,” FFRF Senior Staff Attorney told the IRS that Diocese of Green Bay Bishop David L. Ricken wrote an article Oct. 24 titled “An Important Moment” to be inserted in all parish bulletins.

Freedom from Religion Foundation: The Freedom From Religion Foundation has filed a report with the Internal Revenue Service over illegal political campaigning by the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association (BGEA). BGEA, a 501(c)(3) non-profit, has run full-page ads publicizing Billy Graham’s call for the electorate to “vote biblical values.” The ads have appeared in several “swing state” newspapers in preparation for tomorrow’s heated presidential election. Throughout the month of October, BGEA published articles favorable to Romney, which included a statement by Billy Graham: “What impresses me even more than Gov. Romney’s successful career are his values and strong moral convictions.”

CNSNews: Erik Stanley, senior counsel for the Alliance Defending Freedom (formerly the Alliance Defense Fund), said flatly that CREW’s complaint is “bogus.” “This is a favorite tactic of advocacy groups that believe in a radical secularist view of America,” Stanley …

LifeSiteNews: Although the Catholic bishops’ stuck to the issues, a few priests – and many Protestant clergy – have openly defied the 1954 tax ordinance and endorsed a political candidate from the pulpit. Nearly 1,600 pastors took part in last month’s Pulpit Freedom Sunday, arranged by the Alliance Defending Freedom. The IRS has not yet investigated any participating church.

NBC (includes several videos of pastors): About 1,600 pastors across the country violated a 58-year-old ban on political endorsements by churches in October by explicitly backing political candidates in their Sunday sermons, according to the Alliance Defending Freedom of Scottsdale, Ariz., a conservative Christian legal organization behind a campaign called Pulpit Freedom Sunday . . . The Alliance Defending Freedom asserts that it’s working to further the rights of all religious groups, but it’s an explicitly Christian organization, with a heavy representation of evangelical members and leaders. One clue to its philosophy is that it made it Pulpit Freedom “Sunday” — choosing the Christian Sabbath, instead of more broadly embracing the Jewish Sabbath (Saturday) and the Muslim day of worship (Friday) . . . But Erik Stanley, senior legal counsel for the Alliance Defending Freedom, said it’s clear that the agency is sidestepping the issue. “We surmise the IRS has shut down all its church audits,” Stanley said. As time goes on, he added, “It may become clear that the IRS has taken the position that it will not censor a pastor.”

Erik Stanley at Speak Up Movement Church Blog: Recently, an IRS official was quoted as saying that the IRS had suspended auditing churches. Does this mean that the IRS has thrown up its hands and given up on enforcing the tax code against churches? The answer is “no,” the IRS has not given up and the tax code still applies to churches. The IRS official was Russell Renwicks with the Tax-Exempt and Government Entities division. He said that the IRS had received some complaints about potential violations of the tax code by churches this election cycle. But he stated, “We are holding any potential church audits in abeyance.” What did he mean by this? Mr. Renwick’s statement stems from a 2009 court ruling involving the IRS’ regulations related to church audits.

Matt Barber at LIfe News: The jig is up. The news is out. Pastors across America have called the left’s bluff. The empty words “separation of church and state” – a phrase found nowhere in the U.S. Constitution – have lost their sting . . . But there’s a back story. Since 2008, the Christian legal organization Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) has spearheaded a First Amendment exercise called “Pulpit Freedom Sunday.” Since then, thousands of pastors across America have boldly exercised their guaranteed constitutional rights by addressing “political” issues from the pulpit. This has included directly endorsing candidates. These pastors have dared the IRS to come after them and, not surprisingly, the IRS has balked.

Huffington Post (AP): Americans United for Separation of Church and State, which seeks strict limits on religious involvement in politics, and the Alliance Defending Freedom, which considers the regulations unconstitutional government intrusion, scour the political landscape for any potential cases. While Americans United gathers evidence it hopes will prompt an IRS investigation, the Alliance Defending Freedom jumps in to provide a defense. Neither group knows of any IRS contact with houses of worship over political activity since the 2009 federal ruling . . . Last month, more than 1,500 pastors, organized by the Alliance Defending Freedom, endorsed a candidate from the pulpit and then sent a record of their statement to the IRS, hoping their challenge would eventually end up in court. The Alliance has organized the event, called “Pulpit Freedom Sunday,” since 2008. The IRS has never contacted a pastor involved in the protest.

The Church Report: Americans United for Separation of Church and State, which seeks strict limits on religious involvement in politics, and the Alliance Defending Freedom, which considers the regulations unconstitutional government intrusion, scour the political landscape for any potential cases. While Americans United gathers evidence it hopes will prompt an IRS investigation, the Alliance Defending Freedom jumps in to provide a defense. Neither group knows of any IRS contact with houses of worship over political activity since the 2009 federal ruling . . . Last month, more than 1,500 pastors, organized by the Alliance Defending Freedom, endorsed a candidate from the pulpit and then sent a record of their statement to the IRS, hoping their challenge would eventually end up in court. The Alliance has organized the event, called “Pulpit Freedom Sunday,” since 2008. The IRS has never contacted a pastor involved in the protest.

Wisconsin State Journal: Clark had intended to participate in “Pulpit Freedom Sunday,” a national effort by Alliance Defending Freedom to provoke the IRS. Over the last several weeks, hundreds of pastors have been endorsing political candidates from the pulpit as part of the campaign . . . Alliance Defending Freedom is a conservative Christian legal organization based in Scottsdale, Ariz. Clark described his planned participation in the organization’s effort in this Oct. 14 article. Thursday, Clark insisted he hadn’t been cowed or scared off. “In my heart of hearts, I’d still like to do this — I’ve had the sermon ready forever. But I felt, ‘OK, Lord, I get it. Here’s what you want, so I’ll do it.’”

Baptist Press: A majority of regular churchgoers say their pastor has discussed the importance of voting, while 29 percent say their pastor has taken sides, in sermons, in the presidential race, according to a new survey by the Pew Research Center.

Christian Post: Jim Garlow, who leads Skyline Church in San Diego, announced from the pulpit that he is voting for Mitt Romney, but stopped short of a blanket endorsement. “My endorsement will be Jesus,” Garlow said. “I’ll tell you whom I’m going to vote for, but I don’t think that makes it an endorsement. I’m going to vote for Mitt Romney, but I’m not telling you to.” Garlow’s announcement came during a campaign known as “Pulpit Freedom Sunday,” which was promoted by the Alliance Defending Freedom and held on Oct. 8 of this year. The intent of the campaign was to make pastors and churches aware of the legal rights in addressing political and governmental issues. “The purpose is to make sure that the pastor – and not the IRS – decides what is said from the pulpit,” Erik Stanley, senior legal counsel for the group, told FoxNews.com. “It is a head-on constitutional challenge.”

Christianity Today (Oct. 12): Pulpit Freedom Sunday, an annual event organized by the Alliance Defending Freedom (formerly the Alliance Defense Fund), flaunts an IRS tax code restriction stating that churches risk their tax-exempt status if they endorse specific political candidates or positions on ballot issues. The aim of the event is to “provoke a challenge from the U.S. Internal Revenue Service in order to file a lawsuit and have its argument out in court.”

MySanAntonio.com: The entire sign at the church reads, “VOTE FOR THE MORMON, NOT THE MUSLIM! THE CAPITALIST, NOT THE COMMUNIST!”

Americans United for Separation of Church and State: A Texas church that posted a marquee message urging people to “vote for the Mormon, not the Muslim” violated federal tax law and should suffer the consequences, Americans United for Separation of Church and State told the Internal Revenue Service today. Ray Miller, pastor of the Church in the Valley in Leakey, Texas, posted the message on the church’s marquee. The full message read, “VOTE FOR THE MORMON, NOT THE MUSLIM! THE CAPITALIST, NOT THE COMMUNIST!”

Joe Infranco at Townhall: Is Billy Graham getting political? That’s what some are wondering with the release of a statement from the man who is arguably the best known evangelist in the world: I believe it is vitally important that we cast our ballots for candidates who base their decisions on biblical principles and support the nation of Israel. I urge you to vote for those who support the sanctity of life and support the biblical definition of marriage between a man and a woman. Vote for biblical values this November 6, and pray with me that America will remain one nation under God.

Rev. Matthew Stewart at Herald News: I’ve been interested over the past few months to watch the group of American pastors called the Alliance Defending Freedom, who organized an event they called Pulpit Freedom Sunday. On this day, these pastors publicly endorsed political candidates from the pulpit. They then sent their sermons in to the Internal Revenue Service, in deliberate protest of the IRS’s policy that tax-exempt organizations like churches need to refrain from endorsing political candidates. Now, on the one hand, I really do admire what these pastors are doing, standing up for what they believe to be the truth (and risking a whole lot of their church’s money in doing it). All throughout history, faith communities have needed to stand up for their rights vis-à-vis the state and, though I don’t think the Alliance Defending Freedom’s cause puts them in the same league as Thomas Becket or Óscar Romero, I do think there is something to be said for their courage. But, on the other hand, I think the Alliance Defending Freedom is misguided.

Randy Bright at the Tulsa Beacon:Unfortunately, I can no longer advise churches that a well-developed master plan won’t be obsolete within a few years of completion. Typically, a master plan is approved by the city as part of its normal site plan review, and the hope is that, once approved, the city would honor it in perpetuity even if it adopts a new form-based code. But there is no longer a guarantee of that . . . If you are not already aware of Pulpit Freedom Sunday, it is time to learn about it and get involved. In 1954, the Johnson Amendment led us to believe that pastors could never say anything political from the pulpit under the threat that the church’s tax-exempt status could be taken away. This has effectively muzzled the church, and we are now paying the consequences of that silence . . . Pulpit Freedom Sunday – a movement sponsored by Alliance Defending Freedom – is an effort to restore our freedoms by challenging the IRS to enforce the Johnson Amendment against pastors who preach politics from the pulpit. [more]

Adam Cohen at TIME: The impact this will have on the election this year, though interesting, is not really the point. Pulpit Freedom Sunday is trying to completely rewrite the rules so that in future elections, churches around the country will be free to actively politick. If the full force of the nation’s religious institutions is unleashed, it could have a powerful effect on future elections. The Alliance Defending Freedom insists that pastors have a right to preach “biblical Truth about candidates and elections from their pulpits” – and that “the future of religious freedom” depends on it. Supporters of the movement argue that the IRS policy is an infringement on religious liberty, and that churches are being discriminated against. But these complaints are unpersuasive. What they are objecting to is really a matter of tax policy – and it is a policy that is broadly applied.

Sioux City Journal: Youngblood said it’s a coincidence that the issue arose about the same time as a national push to overturn the restrictions on churches advocating for candidates or ballot measures. That effort is sponsored by the Alliance Defending Freedom, a Scottsdale, Ariz.-based organization that sponsored its fifth annual Pulpit Freedom Sunday event on Oct. 7. The group said 1,600 pastors across the country signed up to present “biblical perspectives on the positions of electoral candidates.” The group said it hopes to eventually go to court to have the law struck down as unconstitutional because it believes the law violates preachers’ free speech rights.

Hollywood Reporter: Organized by Alliance Defending Freedom, its goal is to force a response from the IRS so that the issue can be resolved in a court of law, said the group’s senior legal counsel Erik Stanley. “The 58-year-old Johnson Amendment in the tax code — which is what the IRS uses to restrict what pastors can and cannot say from the pulpit — is unconstitutional,” Stanley said.

Wisconsin State Journal: On Nov. 4, the Rev. John Clark plans to get a few things off his chest, possibly breaking the law in the process . . . Alliance Defending Freedom is a conservative Christian legal organization based in Scottsdale, Ariz. Erik Stanley, its senior legal counsel, said pastors should be able to say whatever they want to their followers, even to the point of endorsing political candidates. “It’s the pastor’s job to decide what to preach from the pulpit, not the IRS’s,” he said.

Christianity Today: Pulpit Freedom Sunday, an annual event organized by the Alliance Defending Freedom (formerly the Alliance Defense Fund), flaunts an IRS tax code restriction stating that churches risk their tax-exempt status if they endorse specific political candidates or positions on ballot issues . . . CT has previously reported on how pastors are double-daring the IRS yet punishment is unlikely, as well as the ironies of the ADF seeking punishment in order “to protect freedom”.

CSIndy.com: This past Sunday, more than 1,500 churches across the nation took part in Pulpit Freedom Sunday. An effort organized by the nonprofit Alliance Defending Freedom, the movement was a bold denouncement by religious leaders of the decades-old Internal Revenue Service regulations that forbid churches from engaging in partisan political speech. ADF released the list of churches with Pulpit Freedom Sunday late Monday afternoon.
As we reported, seven churches in the Springs participated. In this week’s paper, we spoke with pastor Mark Cowart with Church for All Nations.

Mark Tapscott at the Washington Examiner: That’s exactly the point of the Alliance Defending Freedom (formerly known as the Alliance Defense Fund). The ADF consists of thousands of lawyers across the country who work together to defend religious liberty. The group started Pulpit Freedom Sunday in 2008, with an estimated 100 participating pastors. Participation has grown every year since then, with many of the more than 1,000 pastors sending tapes of their sermons to the IRS this year.

Episcopal Digital Network: By some accounts, at least 1,500 preachers in a variety of denominations across the nation deliberately defied federal tax rules Oct. 7 by backing political candidates from the pulpit. And then there was the Rev. Canon Ed Bacon, rector of All Saints Episcopal Church in Pasadena, California, who defied the defiers from his own well of experience. “Pulpit Freedom Sunday” is a four-year-old effort by the Alliance Defending Freedom to provoke a trial in order to challenge the U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS) codes prohibiting tax-exempt organizations from endorsing political candidates.

ProCon.org: Eric Stanley, ADF’s senior legal counsel, said in a statement that the IRS “has the ability and the authority to regulate their sermons. We are giving them the opportunity to do that and if they challenge that, we will challenge that in court. It is all about creating a test case to find the Johnson amendment as unconstitutional.” According to Stanley, after the sermons are delivered, pastors participating in the event are “encouraged to send videos of their remarks to the IRS.”

PATHEOS: At the very least, Pulpit Freedom Sunday raises the question of whether or not the government can limit critics from having their say from the pulpit. A Baptist Press article about Pulpit Freedom Sunday says in part . . .

Erik Stanley on 740 KTRH, The Matt Patrick Show to discuss Pulpit Freedom Sunday. | MP3 audio 4:26 mins

Erik Stanley on the Schilling Show to discuss Pulpit Freedom Sunday. | MP3 audio 3:57 mins

Charleston City Paper: But Baird was making a point, and he was not acting alone. He was one of 1,586 pastors across the country (including 10 in the Charleston area — see list below) who participated in Pulpit Freedom Sunday, an annual protest against the 1954 Johnson Amendment, which established the no-endorsing-candidates rule for nonprofits. The movement is organized by the Alliance Defending Freedom, a Christian conservative advocacy group whose founders include the founders of Focus on the Family and Campus Crusade for Christ, and whose stated purpose is “advocating for religious liberty, the sanctity of life, and marriage and family.” . . . Audio from Baird’s sermon, which is titled “A Shaky Foundation: A Biblical Referendum on the Current Administration,” can be downloaded here. Nine other Charleston-area churches participated in Pulpit Freedom Sunday, according to a press release from the Alliance Defending Freedom . . .

Valley News Online: As many of you know, the Alliance Defending Freedom declared Oct. 7 as “Pulpit Freedom Sunday.” . . . I cannot agree with them. I have been called to preach the Word of the Living God and have no business addressing politics from the pulpit in any case . . . It is my personal opinion that if the IRS does take up this gauntlet thrown down by pastors, the results will be far different from what is desired and perhaps even disastrous to the church as a whole. We have no legitimate reason to believe that a majority on the Supreme Court care at all for what the Constitution says…an important requirement if they are to overrule the IRS in the first place.

The Right Perspective: The Pulpit Freedom Sunday movement, launched in 2008 by the Christian legal ministry Alliance Defending Freedom, argues the 501(c)(3) federal tax code that prohibits tax-exempt organizations from speaking for or against a political candidate is an incursion on freedom of religion and freedom of speech . . . “The ADF wants to elect the next president. They want to elect Mitt Romney,” Barry Lynn, executive director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, told CNN. “This is not about some principle.”

Karen Gushta at the Christian Post: But Erik Stanley, Senior ADF Legal Counsel, says “the AU is using an unconstitutional law to try and intimidate and scare churches.” The problem, says Stanley, is that the Johnson Amendment “is blatantly unconstitutional.” As he wrote at Townhall.com (10/8/2012) those who argue that this is a “taxation issue” are missing the point that this is in truth a free speech issue. “Pastors have been applying scriptural teaching to circumstances facing their congregations for centuries,” writes Stanley. “This is not ‘political’ speech. Rather, it’s core religious expression from a spiritual leader to his congregants. That kind of expression is at the very center of the freedom of speech and religion protections in the First Amendment.” According to Stanley, “The real question is this: When has the government ever been allowed to condition any government-recognized status (such as tax-exempt status) on the surrender of a constitutionally protected freedom?”

Amy Ridenour’s National Center Blog: The Alliance Defending Freedom promotes Pulpit Freedom Sundays (and there have been several) to provoke a ruling against the church from the IRS and create a case that the organization plans to use to have the “Johnson Amendment” ruled unconstitutional . . . Project 21 member Archbishop Council Nedd II — the presiding bishop of the Episcopal Missionary Church . . . “I don’t understand why my fellow ministers of the gospel of Jesus Christ want to use their precious pulpit time to talk about Caesar rather than God.” Furthermore, Archbishop Nedd suggests that discussion of public policy can be a part of a perfectly acceptable religious service that would not put the church in harm’s way from IRS scrutiny . . .

Available at the Speak Up Movement Church Blog.

Erik Stanley appeared with Don Taylor on SuperTalk.fm to discuss Pulpit Freedom Sunday. | MP3 audio 14:20 mins

CNN Belief Blog (includes video): In a sermon that likely broke the law, Indiana pastor Ron Johnson told his 400 congregants Sunday that for those who believe in the Bible, the decision to vote against President Barack Obama “is a no-brainer.” “For Christian people who believe the Bible is the inspired world of God, it is not rocket science,” Johnson told CNN after his sermon . . . The IRS has the ability and the authority to regulate their sermons. We are giving them the opportunity to do that, and if they challenge that, we will challenge that in court,” said Erik Stanley, Alliance Defending Freedom’s senior legal counsel. “It is all about creating a test case to find the Johnson Amendment as unconstitutional.”