It is an established fact of law and jurisprudence that charitable organizations, including churches, which have tax-exempt status are not allowed to participate in political campaigns on behalf of political candidates. Every attempt to challenge this situation in the courts has failed and resulted in a resounding defeat for those who want to have greater mixing of religion and politics. That is not, however, the end of the story.
A focus of recebt efforts is to make a direct change in how the laws read in order to ensure that churches can become fully active in political campaigns — endorsing some politicians, attacking others, and engaging in politics rather than theology from church pulpits. A pet project of Walter Jones that would effect these changes is titled “Houses of Worship Political Speech Protection Act,” and one version reads thus:
- An organization described in section 508(c)(1)(A) (relating to churches) shall not fail to be treated as organized and operated exclusively for a religious purpose, or to have participated in, or intervened in any political campaign on behalf of (or in opposition to) any candidate for public office, for purposes of subsection (c)(3), or section 170(c)(2) (relating to charitable contributions), because of the content, preparation, or presentation of any homily, sermon, teaching, dialectic, or other presentation made during religious services or gatherings.
There was a great deal of opposition to this bill and to any similar changes in the tax laws — even from many members of the clergy who might be assumed to benefit the most from such changes. Why would this be a bad law?
Necessity: Both individual clergy and religious organizations as a whole are already free to engage in widespread political speech so long as they stick to the issues and avoid either endorsing or attacking particular political candidates. If there is no real problem, then there is no need for a solution. That raises the question, however, of why some people (including Representative Jones himself) have tried to get people to believe that this change is necessary after all.
Special Privileges: This change would only apply to churches and other religious organizations. There are a wide variety of other 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organizations out there, including museums, schools, libraries, historical societies, and the like. They, however, would continue to operate under the restriction of not being allowed to endorse or attack political candidates. Churches do not deserve this special privilege; indeed, such favoritism raises the question of whether Jones’ proposal is even constitutional.
Tax Loophole: Currently, donations to churches and religious organizations are tax deductible while donations to political parties and candidates are not. Should churches be permitted to participate directly in political campaigns, people would be able to indirectly contribute to those campaigns without having to report in accordance with campaign finance laws and while also being able to deduct those contributions as charitable donations on their income taxes.
Religious Divisions: If churches become actively involved in political campaigns, then different churches may become political rivals on the local, state, and even national level. Political candidates could become the chosen candidates of particular churches or church groups, vying against each other on both political and theological levels. In some areas, the largest church or denomination could effectively control the social and political destinies of others. This could lead to religious balkanization unlike America has ever seen — a quick look around the world should demonstrate that it is not something that should be encouraged here.
Integrity: One of the issues which often comes up when clergy argue against passage of this bill is that of integrity, both of themselves and of their churches. Politics is a dirty business and religion is supposed to be a holy business; integration of religion and politics is unlikely to elevate politics but it would certainly serve to denigrate religion. Churches often function as an independent voice in society, separated from the battles fought among politicians. That role would be lost completely if religious leaders became directly involved in political campaigns.
