No Taxes = No Politics

Political speech from an American pulpit is complicated by our federal tax code. Our churches are granted tax exempt status. I know of someone who claimed to found a new religion, when it is obvious he was really engaged in tax avoidance. American churches depend on billions of dollars worth of real estate, upon which no taxes are paid. The law also forbids those churches from engaging in political activities. Priests and clerics obviously enjoy the freedom of speech guaranteed by the United State Constitution. But they lack freedom to engage in that political speech from the position of their tax exempt pulpits. Sermons can engage any moral issue whatsoever, but not in the context of endorsing a political party or political position. I expect the atheists of this country would happily allow religious leaders to engage in political speech, as long as they give up their tax exempt status.

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