With the election coming up, I think we should look at the actions of ministers who are coming out in favor of one politician or the other. Most of them are leaders of a church, and have non-profit and tax-exempt status. Should these ministers be allowed to preach politics from the pulpit and still keep their special status?

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"Philosophy is a walk on a slippery rock
Religion is a smile on a dog."

Hmmm..... that's a hard one! Since I'm not very politcally inclined, I'm not quite sure what the "right" thing would be in this case. I'm kind of a "live and let live" person, so I think people should be able to speak their minds on any issue. On the other hand, I would be dissapointed in any minister/pastor who used his or her pulpit for political purposes. I think spiritual matters should not only be inclusive, but should transcend political views.

I feel the tax exampt status requires that the religious group be non-partisan...so an official endorsement of a candidate would mean they could lose their tax exampt status.

The US Tax IRS Publication 4220 states:

Because a substantial portion of an organization’s activities must further its exempt purpose(s), certain other activities are prohibited or restricted including, but not limited to, the following
activities. A 501(c)(3) organization:
n must absolutely refrain from participating in the political campaigns of candidates for local, state, or federal office n must restrict its lobbying activities to an insubstantial
part of its total activities n must ensure that its earnings do not inure to the benefit of any private shareholder or individual n must not operate for the benefit of private interests such as those of its founder, the founder’s family,
its shareholders or persons controlled by such interests n must not operate for the primary purpose of conducting a trade or business that is not related to its exempt purpose, such as a school’s operation of a factory n may not have purposes or activities that are illegal or violate fundamental public policy

Baha'is by the way are required to be non-partisan and refrain from endorsing any partisan political candidate for any office.

- Art

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"it benefits us to be thoughtful, not of the glory of our minds, but rather, above all else, of the glory of God."
- Johannes Kepler

I have worked a lot in public witness and encouraged church members to think about politics in light of their faith when deciding who to vote for.

I have always made it a strict policy to be non-partisan, never focusing on one party or candidate.

I think churches have a wonderful opportunity to avoid partisanship and focus on the issues. I have always told those with a strong political affiliation, that if they disagree with their party on an issue, it is more useful to keep working to change their own party's platform than to change parties.

btw, it is always tempting to confuse "religion and politics" with "church and state". The constitutional requirement is to separate church and state, not to separate religion and politics, which is well-nigh impossible.

But when a church identifies one party as "the church's party" it is trespassing on the separation of church and state. The church needs to be able to keep an arm's-length distance between itself and all parties.

We are approaching an election in Sweden, too.

Ministers don't express political views, like no serious politican even mentions their religion or that of others.

Change that to "Ministers don't ever express views outside purely religious matters."

There are rare nutcases, like the Pentecostal (?) minister who raved against homosexuals, and just barely escaped jail for hate speech. No nation level politics even there, though.

Re: "non-profit and tax-exempt status."

Religious communities probably pay tax on net earnings, like all other enterprises. At least I guess no more or no less than football clubs and the like. I really tried Googling, and I was according to my dictionary a member of my local Church of Sweden "vestry" for a few years, but am still uncertain.

And earnings? Donations are few and far between, except in "free churches" like Pentecostals and similar marginal groups, and AFAIK all the money a religius community normally gets is from something akin to tax levied on registered believers. You can't very well tax a tax.

BTW, despite this "registered believers" thing, for any other purposes, registering people's faith is very fundamentally illegal, so there can't by definition be any official figures on the number of adherents for any religion.

I believe Sweden, like many European countries, has an established church (Lutheran?) and that is why it is supported through taxes.

True that is against the law, but many ministers do come out in support of a canidate, yet they keep their status. Or they come out against a canidate.

I am glad that Baha'is are non-partisan. If you don't endorse a canidate, does that mean you don't vote?

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"Philosophy is a walk on a slippery rock
Religion is a smile on a dog."

There is a difference between telling people to look at issues in light of their faith and using faith to support or bash a canidate. I have no problem with a minister saying "hey, I know this election is difficult, but please look at all the issue, and not just one" or "this issue may seem confusing and the church's official stand is ______" That is much different from ministers coming out and saying "I like so and so for president" or whatever office.

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"Philosophy is a walk on a slippery rock
Religion is a smile on a dog."

I agree. I think for its own integrity a church and its officials should never ally itself with any party or candidate, nor bash any either. If anything, they should provide a platform for all local candidates. And they should have serious (not baiting) questions prepared on the issues.

I could be wrong but it is my understanding that if a church or minister pressures a congregation member to vote a certain way and they do not and the church or minister repremands the member by lets say excommunication they can be fined heavily and I have heard of this being done in the news. There is nothing wrong with discussin the issues although I personally do not not think it is appropriate at least not in a church setting.

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RevKathyV

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