Group calls on pastors to talk politics, challenge IRS

The Alliance Defense Fund, a conservative advocacy group co-founded by Focus on the Family Chairman James Dobson, wants pastors to talk politics from the pulpit on Sunday, challenging Internal Revenue Service regulations prohibiting houses of worship from mixing politics and religion.

The group is spearheading "Pulpit Freedom Sunday" by encouraging church leaders to talk about whom they'll vote for in this year's election, and why - even if doing so violates IRS rules that grant tax-exempt status to churches. Group officials said they hope the action will trigger an IRS investigation that they can use as a springboard to challenge the IRS and the regulation in court.

"It is the job of the church and pastor to decide whether they should talk about political issues from the pulpit," said Erik Stanley, the group's senior legal counsel. "It is not appropriate for the government to draw that line."

About 30 worship centers nationwide have committed to "Pulpit Freedom Sunday," but no Colorado churches agreed to take part. Stanley said the number of participating churches, all of which risk losing their tax-exempt status, was limited intentionally to better manage litigation.

The group's protest centers on a 1954 amendment to the tax code that prohibits 501(c)3 nonprofits, which include religious organizations, from endorsing political candidates. Bruce Hausknecht, legal analyst of Focus on the Family Action, the political arm of Focus, defended "Pulpit Freedom" as an act of "civil disobedience," something churches have engaged in for centuries when confronted with what they believed to be egregious wrongs. "Standing up for righteousness is nothing new," Hausknecht said.

Though Focus Action and Dobson support "Pulpit Freedom Sunday," neither has been involved in organizing the event, and other than being a founder, Dobson has no role with the Alliance Defense Fund, said Greg Scott, a spokesman for the Arizona-based group.

Annie Laurie Gaylor, co-president of Freedom from Religion Foundation in Wisconsin, said nonprofit status is a privilege, and that, if churches want to be political, they must give up their nonprofit status.

"They can't have their cake and eat it, too," Gaylor said.

Alliance Defense Fund will release the names of participating churches next week on its Web site, www.alliancedefensefund.org, Stanley said.