The Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) has launched the Pulpit Initiative to help pastors take back their First Amendment rights to discuss political candidates from the pulpit.
ADF is equipping pastors nationwide to deliver a sermon Sunday, Sept. 28 —Pulpit Freedom Sunday — that will challenge Internal Revenue Service (IRS) restrictions prohibiting pastors from engaging their congregations in politics.
“IRS rules don’t trump the Constitution,” ADF Senior Counsel Erik Stanley said. “Pastors have a right to speak about biblical values from the pulpit without fear of punishment.”
Groups such as Americans United for Separation of Church and State have long used IRS laws to threaten and intimidate churches from speaking out on political issues.
Bruce Hausknecht, judicial analyst for Focus on the Family Action, said the IRS rule, which threatens to remove a church’s tax-exempt status, is an unconstitutional restriction on religious expression.
“It's time for the government to stop making laws and regulations that violate the free-speech rights of churches and ministers,” he said, “and for liberal secular groups to stop making a living out of bullying people of faith from standing up for righteousness in our government and our public officials.”
If the initiative prompts an IRS investigation, ADF attorneys will protect and defend the pastors’ constitutionally protected rights.
“The number of threats being reported to ADF is growing because of the aggressive campaign to unlawfully silence the church,” Stanley said. “No one should be able to use the government to intimidate pastors into giving up their constitutional rights.”
FOR MORE INFORMATION
Learn more about the Alliance Defense Fund’s Pulpit Initiative.
