Republicans Use Tax Reform to Green Light Politics from Pulpits

The Trump/Noem tax plan includes a provision at the bottom (Section 5201, the penultimate section, page 423) that would allow religious non-profits to endorse or attack political candidates. Section 5201 specifically and solely exempts “the content of any homily, sermon, teaching, dialectic, or other presentation made during religious services or gatherings” if such content is prepared and presented “in the ordinary course of the organization’s regular and customary activities in carrying out its exempt purpose, and… results in the organization incurring not more than de minimis incremental expenses.”

This political-sermon exemption copies language but sharply narrows the scope of the Free Speech Fairness Act offered by Representatives Hice and Scalise in February, which would have allowed all 501(c)3 organizations to make statements for or against political candidates. That broader legislation would have extended equal political speech freedom to Planned Parenthood and private-college newspapers as to the churches Republicans expect will swing their way.

By limiting this 501(c)3 exemption to churches, the Republican tax reformers are showing their desire to mingle church and state. One may argue that this provision leaves conservative and liberal pastors on an equal footing, but the Democratic pastors I know recognize that politics has no place in the pulpit, that pastors should create an inclusive worship space that welcomes people of all political persuasions. Pastors with Republican leanings seem more inclined to delve into politics,  advocate ideological walls, and pretend that God has chosen their candidates.

But let’s not hastily generalize. Let’s turn to Dr. Erwin W. Lutzer, pastor emeritus of the conservative evangelical Moody Church, for an explanation of why pastors shouldn’t endorse candidates:

Many years ago I was visited by a rather prominent evangelical who urged me to endorse a certain political candidate. I gave him two reasons why I would not do so, and those reasons have stood me in good stead to this very day.

First, I did not want anyone to think that the Gospel was tied to a political party. If I were to endorse a candidate, people would identify Christianity with that political label, and this would be a stumbling block to those of the opposing political party. Instead of endorsements, over the years I have preached on those issues which cross the biblical/political divide, such as abortion, the role of law, same-sex marriage, etc. But throughout I have always insisted that the cross of Christ must be held above political wrangling, particularly before an election. We must be able to say to Democrats, to Republicans, and to Independents, “All of you are lost forever if you do not put your faith in Christ.”

The second reason for my refusal was that I feared a politician I endorsed could turn out to be a disappointment, and I would then be embarrassed that I had lent my name (and by extension that of The Moody Church) to the man or woman who acted in an un-Christian manner. My visitor actually agreed with this reason; he even told me about a politician who had been endorsed by a prominent Christian leader and won the election, but whose name then appeared a few years later in a “black book” kept by a woman in prostitution [Dr. Erwin W. Lutzer, “On Endorsing Political Candidates,” Moody Church Media, 2016.10.14].

Endorsing candidates is bad for pastors and churches. Rep. Noem, if your tax bill is needed at all, good pastors will tell you that you need to strike from it the political-sermon tax exemption.