Tag Archives: ADF: Pulpit Initiative

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.

Janie B. Cheaney at WORLDmag.com: The ADF sees potential disaster in that. “The power to tax is the power to destroy,” wrote John Marshall (1819) in the McCulloch v. Maryland case, which involved a bank, but the ADF applies Marshall’s statement to the Church—in fact, all faiths.

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.

ChurchLeaders.com: Among them are politics (38 percent), homosexuality (23 percent), abortion (18 percent), same-sex marriage (17 percent), war (17 percent), women’s role in church and home (13 percent), the doctrine of election (13 percent), hell (7 percent) and money (3 percent).

ADF attorney Doug Napier appeared on Life Today to discuss attacks on religious freedom and the work of the Alliance Defense Fund. | The Book: ACLU v. America

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.

The Nonprofit Quarterly : In one instance, a church lost its tax exemption, but we suspect that the IRS and the federal government in general are little interested in publicizing cases about the IRS telling ministers what they can and cannot say from the pulpit or on church websites. There is probably little appetite to take on Pastor Brown’s argument that the Americans United complaint is “just harassment and persecution of anti-religious people against people of faith.”

Americans United for Separation of Church and State: In a letter to the IRS, Americans United asserts that Tom Brown Ministries appears to have run afoul of federal tax law, which prohibits houses of worship, ministries and other 501(c)(3) non-profit groups from endorsing or opposing candidates.

CBN.com (6/30): “For most of American history, there was no restriction at all on what pastors could preach from the pulpit,” said Jordan Lorence, Alliance Defense Fund attorney. Lorence said this current muzzling law goes back to the 1950s. “Lyndon Baines Johnson when he was the majority leader of the Senate basically got irritated with some pastors who were on the radio opposing his reelection as senator,” he explained. [more] . . .

Christian Post: The Alliance Defense Fund, a Christian legal group, has also been concerned that pastors have been unduly avoiding political topics out of legal concerns. In fact, the ADF has gone further by openly challenging a 1954 provision in the tax code that says non-profit groups (including churches) may not “participate in, or intervene in” political campaigns . . .

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

LifeSiteNews.com: “I’m speaking on biblical issues that have political ramifications,” said Garlow, who went on to praise the Alliance Defense Fund, a Christian public interest firm, for challenging pastors to record bold sermons and send them to the Internal Revenue Service as a sign they will not be intimidated against speaking out.

CBN: Jordan Lorence, a religious rights lawyer for the Alliance Defense Fund, said the muzzling law goes back to the 1950s.”For most of American history, there was no restriction at all on what pastors could preach from the pulpit,” he said. “Lyndon Baines Johnson, when he was the majority leader of the Senate, basically got irritated with some pastors who were on the radio opposing his re-election as senator,” Lorence continued. Johnson eventually amended the tax code to limit what church leaders could say. “The Johnson amendment violates the freedom of speech clause of the First Amendment,” Lorence said.

Bob Ellis at Dakota Voice: For several generations now, America’s pastors have allowed themselves to be led around by the nose using an unconstitutional tax exempt requirement, ignoring their duty to ensure their flocks are informed on how God’s word speaks to their daily lives and their duty to be salt and light in this world. But the Alliance Defense Fund has challenged that nonprofit muzzle for the last three years, and the IRS has done nothing. Now is the time for YOU, America’s pastors, to join a growing number of pastors and speak up . . .

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 KFUO with Roland Lettner. | MP3 audio 24 mins | ADF Pulpit Initiative | National Day of Prayer | Save the National Day of Prayer

Washington Independent: “He said at the time he hoped the Internal Revenue Service would come after him for violating his church’s tax exempt status. The church also participated in last year’s Pulpit Freedom Sunday, a national effort organized by the conservative Alliance Defense Fund aimed at convincing pastors to endorse political candidates from the pulpit in violation of tax code. ”

Examiner.com: Senior legal counsel Erik Stanley of Alliance Defense Fund told CBN, “What in essence the IRS has been doing for the last 56 years is setting up a system of intimidation and censorship and really establishing itself as kind of the orthodoxy police; telling pastors, ‘You can talk about anything you want to from scripture, but you can’t talk about the issue of what’s right about what the scripture says about candidates and elections,’” He added that, “We believe that a pastor has a right to speak whatever he believes without fearing the government will somehow censor what he says or threaten to take away his tax exemption.”

The Humanist: “The far-right lawyer group, the Alliance Defense Fund, has been the driving force behind these pastor protests. Based in Scottsdale, Arizona, the alliance is anti-abortion and opposed to same-sex marriage and boasts of having ‘more than thirty-five full-time Christian attorneys.’ The organization did not respond to a request for comment, but has made no secret of the fact that it’s itching for a court fight—all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, if necessary.”

Rob Boston of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, writing at Opposing Views: “The Alliance Defense Fund and its allies in the Religious Right were working to persuade pastors to endorse or oppose candidates from the pulpit during Sunday services. AU repeatedly reminded pastors and congregants that such actions are a violation of federal law. Under the Internal Revenue Code, all 501(c)(3) non-profit groups are barred from intervening in campaigns by endorsing or opposing candidates.”

ADF attorney Erik Stanley appeared on Q90 FM with Mike LeMay, “Stand Up for the Truth”: Pastors and Freedom of Speech. | MP3 audio 35:02 mins | ADF Pulpit Initiative

Rick Cohen writing at The Nonprofit Quarterly: “[F]inding ways for government to indirectly support religious groups, for example, tax credits and vouchers for private religious institutions, is likely in the cards for the freshman class. Promoting the mixture of their faith and their politics, these electees will probably also favor scrapping the prohibition against church electioneering. The pastors behind Pulpit Freedom Sunday, organized by the Alliance Defense Fund, have good reason to cheer as the freshman class of Republicans likely takes up their argument against the Internal Revenue Service.”

Caffeinated Thoughts: “I read an op/ed written by Dr. Wayne Grudem who teaches biblical studies and theology at Phoenix Seminary. Prior to that he was at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. I read the op/ed with interest as he rarely enters the political fray. In this op/ed he wanted to address pastors making endorsements from the pulpit, in particular, the Alliance Defense Fund’s encouragement to churches to do that very thing.”

“Lifeway Research just issued the results of a survey it conducted by phone of 1,000 Protestant pastors . . . The survey found that 84% of the pastors survey did not agree with the statement. So does this mean that 84% of Protestant pastors disagree with ADF’s Pulpit Initiative?”

Christian Post: “Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) submitted the request Tuesday, accusing The Pray in Jesus Name Project of passing out overtly partisan guides that rate politicians as faith-friendly or anti-Jesus . . . The probe request comes weeks after . . . Pulpit Freedom Sunday [which] was organized by the Alliance Defense Fund . . . ‘Pastors and churches shouldn’t live in fear of being punished or penalized by the government – in this case, the IRS,’ said ADF Senior Legal Counsel [Erik Stanley].”

Al hdod: “Sponsored by the Alliance Defense Fund, a conservative Christian legal group, the event was aimed at challenging the Internal Revenue Service, in hopes of sparking a legal battle on the constitutionality of the law enacted in 1954.”

San Bernardino County Sun: “A new survey by the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press finds that among religious groups, encountering political information at church is most common among black Protestants, with 36 percent of voters who regularly attend services saying information on political parties or candidates has been made available at their place of worship . . . [Dean Broyles, president of the Escondido-based Western Center for Law and Policy] pointed to the Alliance Defense Fund’s “Pulpit Freedom Sunday,” held this year on Sept. 26. Pastors around the country made a point on that day to preach about the moral qualifications of candidates seeking political office.”

Wayne Grudem writing at Townhall: “[I]n 1954, Congress amended the Internal Revenue Code to restrict the speech of non-profit organizations. This amendment . . . required churches to refrain from promoting or opposing any political candidate by name . . . The Alliance Defense Fund (ADF), a Christian legal defense organization, has recently questioned the validity of this IRS policy because they believe that the policy is an unconstitutional violation of freedom of religion and freedom of speech.” | The Pulpit Initiative | Speak Up Movement / Church / Pulpit Initiative

The Samford Crimson (Samford University): “[Aaron makes] some sweeping pronouncements about his fellow Christians who choose to protest through the Alliance Defense Fund’s ‘Pulpit Freedom Day.’ I found one assertion particularly ridiculous: ‘These churches no longer have God as their ultimate concern. The country, politics, and campaigns have consumed their lives. In their mind, too, the state is their ultimate concern.’” (Erik Stanley is quoted)

Des Moines Register / Iowa Politics Insider: “Churches that have become increasingly political – including two in Ames that will host satellite voting later this month – blur the line between the separation of church and state, the executive director of the Iowa ACLU said today.”

Pioneer Press: “A Hastings pastor who endorsed several political candidates from the pulpit Sunday has prompted [the Americans United for Separation of Church and State] to send a letter to the IRS stating the church has violated its tax-exempt status . . . Last month, some 100 pastors endorsed political candidates from the pulpit in an event organized by the Arizona-based Alliance Defense Fund.”

Americans United for Separation of Church and State: “Americans United today filed a formal complaint with the IRS over the action of Berean Bible Baptist Church in Hastings. Church pastor Brad Brandon endorsed Republican gubernatorial candidate Tom Emmer and several other candidates from the pulpit yesterday.”

Minneapolis Star-Tribune: “Two Minnesota clergymen plan to thumb their noses at the federal government Sunday by endorsing political candidates from their pulpit . . . ‘If we lose that, it may cost the church money, but my freedom’s not for sale,’ Brandon said. ‘We’re either going to draw the IRS out to come after us or prove this whole thing is obsolete.’ . . . The Pulpit Freedom Sunday project is backed by the Alliance Defense Fund, a Christian nonprofit founded by influential leaders of the religious right.”

Jay Sekulow writes at BeliefNet: “Let’s not forget that this IRS prohibition on endorsing or opposing candidates from the pulpit was not born out of some desire to bring constitutional clarity to the issue, or even to draw a bright line on church/state issues. No, this law was put in place for one simple reason: political payback.”

JDSupra: “Pulpit Freedom Sunday is an annual event that takes place on the last Sunday of September and has been going on for the past 3 years. So far, the IRS has taken no pastor to court. The agency’s inaction has been taken by some pastors as proof that their stand on this issue is right . . . ”

Andy Birkey writes at the Minnesota Independent: “A hundred miles to the southwest, in St. Peter, Pastor Stone says he’ll be endorsing candidates during services as part of Pulpit Freedom Sunday, an Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) campaign to encourage pastors to endorse candidates in direct violation of the law. ADF is the brainchild of Focus on the Family’s James Dobson. ADF hopes that the IRS will revoke the tax-exempt status of those churches that endorse so that it can address the ban on endorsements with its team of lawyers. The rationale is that churches across the country will be able to endorse socially conservative candidates for office, giving Republicans a massive boost in election years — all while keeping their tax-exempt status.” | On the contrary see:  The Pulpit Initiative: What it is – What it’s not. | More information: ADF Pulpit Initiative

Corey J. Hodges writes at The Salt Lake Tribune: “Some argue that tax exemption is a government subsidy, opening the door to some federal oversight. The ADF disagrees.“Churches are exempt from taxation under the principle that there is no surer way to destroy religion than to begin taxing it,” ADF Senior Legal Counsel Erik Stanley said. “As the U.S. Supreme Court has noted, the power to tax involves the power to destroy.”

One News Now: “‘You cannot lose your tax exemption as a church because as a church, you have a constitutional standing for tax exemption,’ he points out. ‘So with that basis, losing your letter means absolutely nothing – and that’s something pastors are now figuring out.’”

Iowa Independent: “A Sioux City church facing an IRS investigation did nothing wrong when it organized its own campaign to unseat three justices from the Iowa Supreme Court, 3rd District Republican congressional candidate Brad Zaun said in an interview this week with a Christian blogger . . . The church’s pastor told The Iowa Independent that he also participated in Pulpit Freedom Sunday, a national effort organized by the conservative Alliance Defense Fund aimed at convincing pastors to endorse political candidates from the pulpit in violation of the current tax code.”

Iowa State Daily: “Gordon’s church also participated in Pulpit Freedom Sunday in September, a national effort organized by the Alliance Defense Fund, a conservative group, aimed at convincing pastors to endorse political candidates from the pulpit in violation of the current tax code.”

USA Today: “Gordon said he has recruited leaders at more than 100 churches . . . The Liberty Institute, a socially conservative nonprofit group in Texas, has promised free legal protection to any church that joins the campaign. Gordon’s plan is one of several efforts by conservative churches to challenge the IRS on a law they view as unconstitutional. The Alliance Defense Fund, an Arizona organization that promotes conservative biblical values, has sponsored a "Pulpit Freedom Sunday" in recent years, a day when pastors speak specifically about candidates for office.”

Secular Daily News: Lynn said pastors should be wary of schemes promulgated by the ADF and groups like it. He also vowed that Americans United will report any church that breaks the law to the IRS. “The Alliance Defense Fund is asking pastors to take part in a reckless, dangerous and unethical scheme,” Lynn said. “Religious leaders should send the group packing and reject Pulpit Freedom Sunday.”

One News Now:  ”Nearly 100 pastors, backed by the Alliance Defense Fund (ADF), participated in “Pulpit Freedom Sunday” September 26 and challenged the IRS by speaking about politics in church. David Barton, founder and president of WallBuilders, believes it is necessary for outspoken pastors to speak out in order to prove that the IRS is prohibiting their First Amendment rights.”

The Desert Sun: “Gordon’s plan is one of several efforts by conservative churches to challenge the IRS on a law they view as unconstitutional. The Alliance Defense Fund, an Arizona organization that promotes conservative biblical values, has sponsored a “Pulpit Freedom Sunday” in recent years, a day when pastors speak specifically about candidates for office.”

DesMoinesRegister.com: “The Rev. Cary K. Gordon has a prayer he recites as he campaigns against the three Iowa Supreme Court justices who are up for retention in next month’s election. ‘Dear God,’ he says, ‘please allow the IRS to attack my church, so I can take them all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court.’ . . . The Alliance Defense Fund, an Arizona organization that promotes conservative biblical values, has sponsored a ‘Pulpit Freedom Sunday’ in recent years, a day when pastors speak specifically about candidates for office.”

ADF attorney Joe Infranco appeared on “Grassroots America, We the People” with George Stephenson to discuss Pulpit Freedom Sunday. | MP3 audio 18:31 mins

Editorial in The Toledo Blade: “The ADF has protested the ban for three years, yet none of the pastors has been fined or prosecuted. The IRS has ignored the provocations. That is a mistake. The ADF and the pastors who flout the law have been emboldened by the government’s lack of follow-through. One of the protesting pastors said he planned to send a recorded copy of his sermon to the IRS, daring it to fine him.”

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette editorial: “This is a mistake. The ADF and the pastors who flout the law have been emboldened by the government’s lack of follow-through. One pastor said he even planned to send a recorded copy of his political sermon to the IRS to see if it would come after him. The IRS should revoke the tax-exempt status of violators. When they make a mockery of the rules, it only invites others to do the same.”

ADF Attorney writing at Erik Stanley The Tennessean: “The ques­tion of whether tax-exempt churches should be able to espouse polit­i­cal views from the pul­pit is, in real­ity, the wrong ques­tion. The bet­ter ques­tion is whether the gov­ern­ment has the right to force churches not to espouse polit­i­cal views from the pul­pit in order to be rec­og­nized as tax-exempt. And the answer to that is sim­ple: Gov­ern­ment has no busi­ness being in the pul­pits of Amer­ica at all.”

Caffeinated Thoughts: “‘Rev.’ Barry Lynn, executive director of Americans United, isn’t happy that the church encouraging its members to oust three of the Iowa Supreme Court justices up for retention because of their decision to overturn Iowa’s Defense of Marriage Act . . . Some will say that the tax-exempt status of a church is a federal subsidy, but Alliance Defense Fund Senior Legal Counsel [Erik Stanley] in a press release encouraging churches to speak out last Sunday on ‘Pulpit Freedom Sunday’ says that isn’t the case.”

Ted Rayburn, for the Editorial Board of The Tennessean: “Attempts by some church leaders to use the pulpit to change the outcome of elections this fall not only flout restrictions in the federal tax code; they are an abuse of power . . . ADF is trying to defeat candidates for public office who they believe are pro-choice and who support rights for gays and lesbians. They also consider church-state separation a ‘myth,’ even though it is a foundational principle in American society and has been upheld in numerous court rulings nationwide.”

Virtue Online: “Interfaith Alliance President Rev. Dr. C. Welton Gaddy criticized the Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) for once again asking members of the clergy to violate the Constitution and IRS regulations by endorsing political candidates from the pulpit. In response, Interfaith Alliance is asking clergy to pledge not to make such endorsements from the pulpit or on behalf of their house of worship and to join the more than 200 faith leaders who made that same commitment during the 2008 election cycle . . . A copy of the pledge along with a selection of signers can be found at http://www.interfaithalliance.org/clergypledge.”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U0Zem263sLo

news9.com: “The Americans United for Separation of Church and State is asking the IRS to investigate a Church in Edmond after the church’s pastor declared his support for a gubernatorial candidate from the pulpit . . . According to Americans United the annual event is sponsored by the Alliance Defense Fund, a religious right legal group founded by preachers who chose to ignore the law by opposing candidate from the pulpit.”

OneNewsNow: “Americans United for Separation of Church and State wants the Internal Revenue Service to investigate an Edmond, Oklahoma, pastor . . . According to the Alliance Defense Fund, about 100 pastors from 30 states participated in that program on September 26 — and an ADF attorney says the legal group is “looking forward to what may come” in the aftermath.”

USA Today: “The campaign was sponsored for the third straight year by the conservative Christian group Alliance Defense Fund . . . ‘Our goal always has been to empower pastors to speak freely from the pulpit without government censorship or control,’ said the Scottsdale, Ariz.-based group’s senior legal counsel, Erik Stanley.”

“Christians ‘do not and cannot recognize, with regard to the definition of marriage, the imaginary authority of the Iowa Supreme Court. . . .”

Stuart Whatley writing at the Huffington Post: “[T]he ADF is determined to provoke a lawsuit from the IRS so as to challenge the 1954 provision that prohibits political endorsements from tax-exempt 501(c)(3) charitable organizations, which includes most religious institutions. According to the ADF’s [Erik Stanley], ‘We believe if a federal judge looked at the constitutionality of what the IRS has done, it wouldn’t take long for the judge to strike it down as unconstitutional.’”

ADF Attorney Erik Stanley writing at Speak Up Movement / Church: “It’s ironic that a group that has ‘separation of church and state’ in its name would argue and agitate for government-controlled churches. AU wants pervasive and ongoing monitoring and surveillance of churches by the IRS. That’s not separation of church and state no matter how you look at it.”

OneNewsNow: “Attorney [Erik Stanley] reports that about 100 pastors from 30 states participated in the firm’s third annual Pulpit Freedom Sunday . . . ‘All of this with the goal of protecting a pastor’s right to speak freely from the pulpit without fearing any government censorship or control,’ Stanley explains. ‘So it was a great success, and we’re looking forward to what may come after this.’”

The Christian Post: “A liberal church-state separation group filed an IRS complaint Tuesday against an Oklahoma church whose pastor voiced support for a gubernatorial candidate from the pulpit . . . ‘AU claims to stand for the separation of church and state, yet by complaining to the IRS, AU is asking for government monitoring and surveillance of churches by the state,’ said ADF Senior Legal Counsel [Erik Stanley] to The Christian Post. ‘That’s not separation of church and state no matter how you look at it.’”

ADF attorney Joe Infranco appeared on Moody Radio’s “In the Market” with Janet Parshall to discuss the Pulpit Initiative. | MP3 audio 19:10 mins

ADF President and CEO Alan Sears writing at Inside the Issues: “This tacit agreement on the part of Christians to stay out of the political sphere ignores both the priority of protecting our religious freedom and the noble, centuries-old tradition of American pastors bringing moral context to the most volatile, far-reaching political questions of their day. (Christian pastors were outspoken catalysts in sparking the American Revolution and the Civil Rights movement, to cite just two examples.)”

Religion Clause: “Reaction is now beginning to activities of churches which last Sunday participated in Alliance Defense Fund’s Pulpit Sunday challenging tax code restrictions on non-profits, including churches.”

David Waters writing at The Washington Post / On Faith: “ADF’s widely (and often breathlessly) reported campaign to ‘bait the IRS with pulpit politics‘ seems to have been more of a bait and switch . . . It’s possible that some of the promised ‘nearly 100′ dissenting pastors did endorse someone from the pulpit Sunday, but I have scoured the Web and can’t find any reports of such . . . ‘Pastors and churches shouldn’t live in fear of being punished or penalized by the government — in this case, the IRS,’ said ADF Senior Legal Counsel [Erik Stanley]. Fear not, pastors.”

ADF Attorney Erik Stanley writing at Speak Up Movement / Church: “Nearly 100 pastors from almost 30 different states participated in ADF’s third annual Pulpit Freedom Sunday.”

Dakota Voice: “The Alliance Defense Fund has announced that pastors from approximately 100 churches nationwide participated in the Alliance Defense Fund’s third annual Pulpit Freedom Sunday on Sept 26.” (includes pastors list)

Common Dreams: “The Internal Revenue Service should investigate an Edmond, Okla., church whose pastor endorsed a gubernatorial candidate from the pulpit, says Americans United for Separation of Church and State . . . Blair issued the endorsements as part of ‘Pulpit Freedom Sunday,’ an annual event sponsored by the Alliance Defense Fund (ADF). The ADF, a Religious Right legal group founded by TV preachers, prods pastors to openly defy the law by endorsing or opposing candidates from the pulpit.”

Rapid City Journal: “The only South Dakota pastor listed by the Alliance Defense Fund as a participant in its Pulpit Freedom Sunday initiative said Monday that he didn’t talk about candidates from the pulpit last weekend . . . Despite his participation in the 2008 ADF effort and his interest in provoking a court challenge to the Johnson amendment, Hickey said he didn’t ‘follow the pack’ this year. ‘I preach the Bible on the weekend, and I didn’t have a sense I should do it this Sunday,’ he said.”

Hartford Courant / Still Small Voice blog: “The pastors, with the backing of the conservative Christian non-profit, Alliance Defense Fund, planned to challenge what is legally-acceptable speech within tax-exempt organizations in what they called Pulpit Freedom Sunday.”

OpEdNews: “To start with, nobody is forcing the clergy to have tax exempt status. It is their own decision to be tax exempt. If they don’t like the conditions of the tax exemption they should give it up . . . Senior Legal Counsel [Erik Stanley] of the Christian legal group Alliance Defense Fund, the group which organized the Christian clergy movement to ‘resisteth’ the IRS, said, ‘The ADF is not trying to get politics into the pulpit; we want to get government out of the pulpit.’”

The Indy Channel: “It was part of an effort by the Arizona-based Alliance Defense Fund, a conservative Christian nonprofit group, to challenge a law that prevents tax-exempt churches from supporting or opposing a political candidate.”

ADF attorney Erik Stanley appeared on Point of View Radio to report on Pulpit Freedom Sunday which was held this past Sunday. | MP3 audio 9:20 mins

Freedom From Religion Foundation: “This Sunday, September 26, 2010, churches across the country will participate in an event known as Pulpit Freedom Sunday. This event, organized and promoted by the Alliance Defense Fund, a Christian right legal group based in Arizona, provides a forum for pastors to abuse their tax-exempt status and openly endorse or oppose candidates for office from the pulpit. The annual event violates federal tax law and church leaders would be wise to refrain from participating.”

Charity Governance Consulting LLC: “Yesterday was Pulpit Freedom Sunday, which was organized by the Alliance Defense Fund . . . We’ve got news for the participants. You sound no different than the imbeciles claiming that the income tax is unconstitutional. Their protests have clogged the federal courts for years . . . it isn’t the IRS that imposed the limit. It’s Congress. The IRS is caught in the middle. They are charged with enforcing the law, and until the Supreme Court rules otherwise or Congress repeals the law, the IRS should enforce it. At the end of the day, the Alliance Defense Fund should be more concerned about selective enforcement of the law rather than the particulars of any given statute.”