There was a great debate last night on NPR's Talk of the Nation: should preachers be able to endorse a candidate in an election? Technically, if the leader of a house of worship uses the pulpit (or podium or what have you) to endorse a candidate, that house of worship should lose its 501c3 status. However, according to NPR, "a group of ministers have come together to challenge the IRS regulation that prohibits pastors from making political endorsements from the pulpit...So yesterday, more than 30 ministers took partisan messages to their congregants in a flagrant violation of-and challenge to-the IRS rule, in the hopes of generating a legal battle."You can listen to the program here.You also might remember that we covered this dilemma of what happens when politics and the pulpit collide back in GOOD 002.And, while we're on the topic of religion, you might consider looking at this Telegraph piece that explains how faith can relieve pain or this one on the case for (and against) faith.Photo by Ethan Hill (from the article "Render unto Caesar?" in GOOD 002)
There was a great debate last night on NPR's Talk of the Nation: should preachers be able to endorse a candidate in an election? Technically, if the leader of a house of worship uses the pulpit (or podium or what have you) to endorse a candidate, that house of worship should lose its 501c3 status. However, according to NPR, "a group of ministers have come together to challenge the IRS regulation that prohibits pastors from making political endorsements from the pulpit...So yesterday, more than 30 ministers took partisan messages to their congregants in a flagrant violation of-and challenge to-the IRS rule, in the hopes of generating a legal battle."You can listen to the program here.You also might remember that we covered this dilemma of what happens when politics and the pulpit collide back in GOOD 002.And, while we're on the topic of religion, you might consider looking at this Telegraph piece that explains how faith can relieve pain or this one on the case for (and against) faith.Photo by Ethan Hill (from the article "Render unto Caesar?" in GOOD 002)