As Usual, the Catholics Get It Right

You may have heard recently that a group of evangelical ministers backed by the Alliance Defense Fund is planning to thumb its collective noses at the Internal Revenue Service on September 28 by openly endorsing candidates from the pulpit. (If you haven't, the Washington Post has a good summary of the "Pulpit Initiative.")

My question is, "WHY?"

The ADF answer is that churches have the constitutional right to free speech, including political speech, and that Internal Revenue Code prohibitions against political endorsements by churches are unconstitutional. It's all Lyndon Johnson's fault, says Erik Stanley, senior legal counsel for the ADF. He didn't like certain groups opposing his Senate re-election bid, so he introduced legislation to muzzle his opponents. The ADF has drafted a White Paper defending its view that the IRC provisions against political speech by non-profits are unconstitutional. In fact, the ADF conceived the "Pulpit Initiative" for the express purpose of inviting IRS scrutiny and getting a case before the courts with the hope of having the law declared unconstitutional.

Again, my question is, "WHY?"

I'm not a legal scholar (and I'll happily submit to a well-reasoned defense of constitutional rights on this issue), but I believe the provisions against political speech by churches are neither unconstitional nor harmful. Do they establish or prohibit the free exercise of religion? No. Do they abridge the freedom of speech, or the press, or the right of the people to assemble, or to petition the government for a redress of grievances? No. The law simply says that nonprofits that are organized for religious, charitable, and educational purposes should do, well, religious, charitable, and educational things. In other words, one shouldn't join the tennis league and demand the right to play hockey on the tennis courts, during the tennis match.

What is most troubling about this Pulpit Initiative, though, is that its backers are more concerned with a supposed abridgement of political speech than they are with the proclamation of the Gospel. Whether or not the ADF succeeds in getting the law overturned, the churches, pastors, and members who trade their pulpits for politics are losers. Our Lord gave His Church the keys to the kingdom, not the keys to the ballot box. Trading the birthright of the Evangel for the pottage of endorsements is shameful and sickening. It's also indicative of the state of contemporary American Christianity.

Pastors have far more important things to do than politick from the pulpit. How will endorsing (or condemning) candidates pour faith into the hearts of a congregation? How will it feed souls hungry and thirsty for righteousness? How will it kill the sinful heart with the Law and bring it to life again with the Gospel? How will it set Christ crucified for our sins before us?

Predictably, and thankfully, other pastors and churches are speaking up against the ADF plan, even going so far as to file formal complaints with the IRS. But as usual, it's the Catholics who are leading the way with a thoughtful, engaging response. From Miami Archbishop John Favalora's statement titled "Why we don't take sides on candidates":

When we teach on a particular moral issue, we rely on the whole of that tradition rather than on any individual’s opinion or interpretation of Scripture.

That is not to say that we are not involved in politics. Catholics do not give up their right to vote or take political sides when they are baptized.

But the role of the church is not to be like the “party boss” who goes around telling people how to vote. Our responsibility is to remind people to vote wisely; to reveal to them the wisdom of Scripture, the wisdom of the church’s moral tradition, so that they can base their votes on solid moral ground.

Too often, people vote based on their feelings, or on the partial sound-bites of candidates pushing a particular point of view. More often than not, decisions based on feelings or partial information turn out to be wrong.

That is why it is especially important for voters to study all sides of an issue — or candidate — and examine that information in light of their own beliefs and values.

When church leaders speak on issues such as immigration, poverty, health care, abortion, war or embryonic stem cell research, we are not telling people how to vote. We are reminding them of the moral teachings that should inform their lives, and as a result, their votes...

That is our duty as teachers and successors of the apostles.

Your duty as Catholics is to listen to those teachings before making rational, informed, conscientious decisions regarding whom or what to vote for.

Politicians already know the American religious vote goes on sale every four years. There's no reason to give it--and the priceless Gospel--away in exchange for the empty hope of political relevance and the sure promise of political slavery.