Tag Archives: Topic: Church Sovereignty

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.

Citizen Link: Alliance Defending Freedom Senior Legal Counsel Erik Stanley said churches shouldn’t be treated differently than other entities. “It’s a widely known fact that churches across America effectively use facilities such as gyms and bookstores for clear religious purposes and are exempt from property taxes just like other organizations that serve the community — often at a loss,” he said. “Really what the state was doing was attempting to define what ministry was for Christ Church by telling them that they can’t use their facilities to reach out to evangelize, to build up their own membership.”

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

Christ Church Pentecostal is appealing a lower court’s decision to deny the church tax-exempt status on part of its property under the argument that they are not an integral part of the church’s ministry even though the facilities, a gymnasium and non-profit bookstore, are used exclusively for ministry outreach. Tennessee law allows similar facilities that are not on church property to be tax-exempt.

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.

AP: Utah seized control of the community trust in 2005 amid allegations of mismanagement by church officials, including now-jailed polygamist sect leader Warren Jeffs.

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.”

Religion Clause Blog: Last week, Dr. Levon Yuille, pastor of The Bible Church in Ypsilanti, Michigan filed a federal lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of a Michigan statute (MCL §168.931(1)(e)) that prohibits any member of the clergy from threatening excommunication, expulsion or religious disapproval for the purpose of influencing a voter at an election. American Freedom Law Center announced the filing of the lawsuit. Plaintiff also filed a motion for a temporary restraining order and prelliminary injunction and a brief in support of the motion (full text).

Religion Clause Blog:  In Cannata v. Catholic Diocese of Austin, (5th Cir., Oct. 24, 2012), the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals dismissed claims under the Age Discrimination in Employment Act and Americans With Disabilities Act brought against the Diocese of Austin by a former Music Director at a Catholic church.

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.

Kansas.com: O’Donnell’s residence at 1435 W. Haskell in south Wichita, which has been off the tax rolls since at least 2002 as a Grace Baptist Church parsonage, is subject to property taxes because it is not being used as a church parsonage, appraisers’ officials ruled in September.

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]

Religion Clause Blog: The Macon (GA) Telegraph reports on a lawsuit filed in a Georgia federal district court on Oct. 3 by a woman who claims religious and gender discrimination in her termination as nursery school coordinator at Friendship Baptist Church in Warner Robins, Georgia.

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

GreenBay Press Gazette: Gaylor, co-founder of the Madison, Wis.,-based Freedom From Religion Foundation, wants a federal court to strike down an IRS rule allowing tax-free housing for pastors.

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.”

ColoradoConnection.com (Fox21News) (includes ADF video): The Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) organization has protested the amendment with an annual ‘Pulpit Freedom Sunday’ in which it encourages pastors across the country to openly engage in political-related sermons. The organization says the Johnson Amendment violates the first amendment of the U.S. Constitution, which includes freedom of speech and freedom of religion. The ADF launched the idea in 2008 during the presidential election, and 33 pastors participated. In 2009 the number grew to 83, then 100 in 2010 and 539 in 2011. Sunday was 2012′s Pulpit Freedom Sunday, and more than 1,000 pastors are estimated to have participated.

Rob Boston at Americans United for Separation of Church and State: The ADF says it wants to see this matter in court. I’m confident that the organization will lose that case, just as TV preacher Pat Robertson’s American Center for Law and Justice lost a church politicking case in the 1990s. Why the hold-up? To the IRS I say: You know what happened this weekend. It’s time to get the ball rolling by stripping some of these politicking churches of their tax-exempt status.

Eric Stanley appeared on the Victoria Taft Show to report on Pulpit Freedom Sunday. | MP3 audio 4:23 mins

One News Now: Stanley says that as in previous years, ADF is in a wait-and-see mode. “… We’re still waiting to see whether the IRS is going to react, and we’ll continue to wait,” he comments. “So if they do, we will be prepared to represent these pastors and churches and to seek to have the Johnson Amendment declared unconstitutional and removed from the books once and for all.” [more]

LifeSiteNews: “America’s founders would have agreed, a pastor is the one who should determine what he says from the pulpit, not the federal government—and that is as it should be,” said Erik Stanley, who headed the Alliance Defending Freedom’s Pulpit Initiative. Participating churches ranged from Baptist, Pentecostal, and Church of Christ to Anglican, Lutheran, and United Methodist. Only 10 institutions appeared to be affiliated with the Roman Catholic Church, including . . .

LifeNews: “Pastors should decide what they preach from the pulpit, not the IRS,” said Senior Legal Counsel Erik Stanley. “It’s outrageous for pastors and churches to be threatened or punished by the government for applying biblical teachings to all areas …

Joe Carter at Acton Institute Power Blog: I should clarify, however, that while I may have religious objections to preachers endorsing candidates during church services, I believe they have the right to do so. Indeed, they should be able to freely exercise those rights without having to endure government intimidation. As Stanley says in a recent op-ed, “Just as with those other rights, free speech is a constitutionally protected freedom, not a privilege that the government can grant or revoke while dangling the tax-exempt status of the speaker’s church over his head.” [more]

Article 3 Blog: The Alliance Defending Freedom hopes that these premeditated violations will provoke the IRS to take notice, and hopefully bring the issue to court. To garner attention, pastors sent send videos and text copies of their politically charged sermons directly to the IRS. Eric Stanley, senior legal counsel for Alliance Defending Freedom, said: The IRS has the ability and the authority to regulate [pastors’] 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.

Accounting Web: Now several tax-exempt organizations are taking a bold, proactive stance. The vocal Alliance Defending Freedom, a Christian ministry based in Arizona that organized the first Pulpit Freedom Sunday in 2008, believes the law violates First Amendment rights by muzzling the clergy. It wants to press the matter until it’s decided in court. “Every pastor and every church has the right to decide what their pastor preaches from the pulpit and to not have that dictated to them by the IRS,” said Erik Stanley, senior legal counsel for the group.

WorldNetDaily: Preaching about scriptural principles and applying them to the positions of candidates for public office is not “political” speech, it’s “core religious expression from a spiritual leader to his congregants.” That’s according to Erik Stanley, senior legal counsel with the Alliance Defending Freedom, which reported today that nearly 1,600 pastors of churches across the nation participated in its Pulpit Initiative this past weekend. [more]

KCRA (CNN): Johnson’s anti-Obama sermonizing likely violated the so-called Johnson Amendment, an Internal Revenue Service rule that forbids churches that receive tax-exempt status from the federal government to intervene in “any political campaign on behalf of (or in opposition to) any candidate for elective public office.” But Johnson appears comfortable with defying the IRS. His sermon was part of a national campaign by the Alliance Defending Freedom, a conservative Christian legal organization that has organized Pulpit Freedom Sunday since 2008, encouraging pastors to flout the Johnson Amendment with political endorsements from the pulpit. 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.”

Non Profit Quarterly: The ADF plans to “actively represent any church or pastor who has been threatened or punished for actively speaking from the pulpit.” This event is intended to provoke the IRS into taking action so that the ADF can challenge and try to overturn the Johnson Amendment (the 1954 change in the U.S. tax code which prohibited tax-exempt organizations from endorsing or opposing political candidates). Erik Stanley, senior legal counsel for ADF, told Fox News, “The purpose is to make sure that the pastor — and not the IRS — decides what is said from the pulpit. It is a head-on constitutional challenge. We’re hoping the IRS will respond by doing what they have threatened. We have to wait for it to be applied to a particular church or pastor so that we can challenge it in court. We don’t think it’s going to take long for a judge to strike this down as unconstitutional.” . . . The final list of churches that participated in this year’s Pulpit Freedom Sunday action will soon be released by ADF.

Christian Post: Pastors and Alliance Defending Freedom attorneys, who organized Pulpit Freedom Sunday, are in fact hoping to provoke the IRS and take the amendment to court so that it can be declared unconstitutional. Participating pastors recorded their sermons on Sunday to send to the IRS. “Our line is very simple – no governmental intrusion into the life of the church at all,” Garlow said on “The Colbert Report.”

CBN (includes video):
Erik Stanley, senior legal counsel with the Alliance Defending Freedom, which is behind the Pulpit Freedom Sunday, spoke more about why he believes the current law is wrong. Click play for his comments, following this report

Huffington Post (Reuters): Erik Stanley, senior legal counsel of the Alliance Defending Freedom, said the group was not pushing any particular political agenda and participants came from both conservative and liberal churches. However, the event in past years has tended to be dominated by evangelical fundamentalist churches and conservative causes such as opposition to abortion and gay-marriage. [more]

Nearly 1,500 pastors in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico have registered to participate in Alliance Defending Freedom’s fifth annual Pulpit Freedom Sunday.

Religion Clause Blog: In Erdman v. Chapel Hill Presbyterian Church, (WA Sup. Ct., Oct. 4, 2012), the Washington Supreme Court in a case producing 3 opinions (lead opinion, concurrence, dissent/concurrence) dismissed a former church employee’s claim against the church for negligent supervision and negligent retention of its minister. The court also remanded plaintiff’s Title VII claims for further consideration in light of the U.S. Supreme Court’s Hosanna-Tabor decision.

Religion Clause Blog: In Zastrow v. Bullock, (D MT, Oct. 2, 2012), a Montana federal district court entered a permanent injunction with the consent of all parties barring enforcement of a Montana statute, MCA § 13-35-218(2) which provides . . .

Erik Stanley at Townhall: In other words, the arguments against Pulpit Freedom Sunday fail because the premise for those arguments is all wrong . . . But pastors who participate in Pulpit Freedom Sunday are not engaging in a “political crusade.” Instead, they are simply applying Scripture and theological doctrine to the positions held by the candidates running for office. Pastors have been applying scriptural teaching to circumstances facing their congregations for centuries. 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.
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?

Matthew J. Franck at National Review: But the historic tax exemption for churches is not predicated on their being held to some standard of apolitical conduct. It is predicated on the proposition that freedom of religion is so fundamental, and individual and institutional conscience so precious, that the state has no jurisdiction over churches, the setting in which free consciences find their space and vitality to act. At least one finds this argument strongly present in a prominent strain of the founders’ thought on freedom of religion. The state cannot tax churches, in short, because churches make a higher claim on their members than does their allegiance to the state as citizens, and the government of a free republic is formed on a recognition of this principle.

Christian Post (Oct. 5): Americans United for Separation of Church and State (AU) has sent out a letter purporting to explain the law regarding “electioneering by nonprofit organizations.” Those who receive it need to know it’s full of inaccuracies and misstatements and is plainly intended to intimidate churches and pastors and to sideline their voices during this election season.

Beaumont Enterprise (includes poll): On Sunday, however, at least 1,000 pastors across the nation participated in Pulpit Freedom Sunday, an annual protest of the federal tax law that limits some political speech by religious leaders. Alliance Defending Freedom, the group organizing the event, said participants mail the IRS video or printed copies of their sermons in which they endorse candidates or parties. Alliance Defending Freedom hopes to incite a lawsuit . . .

World Mag: Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) launched Pulpit Freedom Sunday in 2008. They did so because it has been illegal for pastors to endorse candidates from the pulpit since Congress passed the Johnson Amendment in 1954. ADF legal counsel Erik Stanley said pastors should be able to apply “biblical teachings to all areas of life, including candidates and elections. The purpose [of this event] is to make sure that the pastor, and not the IRS, decides what is said from the pulpit.”

Examiner.com: Pastors took this move to prompt the IRS to enforce a 1954 tax code known as the Johnson Amendment proposed by the then Senator Lyndon B. Johnson that prohibits tax-exempt organizations, charities and churches from making political endorsements. “Pulpit Freedom Sunday” was organized by the conservative Christian group Alliance Defending Freedom. The organization wants the IRS to press the matter so it can be decided in court. It believes the law violates the First Amendment by banning preachers from preaching politics from the pulpit. According to Fox News , Erik Stanley, senior legal counsel for the group said: “The purpose is to make sure that the pastor and not the IRS decides what is said from the pulpit. It is a head-on constitutional challenge.”