Several dozen American pastors put their wallets on the line this weekend, breaking a decades-old ban on political endorsements from the pulpit.
In an organized action, the pastors endorsed Senator John McCain during their sermons and urged their congregants not to vote for Barack Obama.
By doing so, they broke a law that prohibits tax-exempt organizations, such as churches, from actively engaging in US politics.
The IRS is investigating. Here’s video:
A few years ago, a controversy erupted in Canada over the church’s role in our debate over same-sex marriage. Our Prime Minister at the time was a Catholic – as were a large number of our elected representatives in Parliament – and a number of Roman Catholic officials suggested that those officials wouldn’t be true Catholics if they approved a law legalizing same-sex marriage.
Given that a majority of Canadians approved of gay marriage at the time, the hubbub begged the question:
Do politicians owe allegiance to their religious authorities of choice, or to the citizens who elect them?
It’s a complicated question. Where does freedom of religion end, and obligation begin, for public figures, and – in this case with the pastors – where does the separation of church and state end, and freedom of expression begin?
I’m not sure, but I do know one thing: the Bible doesn’t say a word about voting for John McCain over Barack Obama.
If these pastors want to express their own views, that’s one thing. But suggesting that God himself endorses John McCain? Well, that’s something else — charlatanism.
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Awesome… one of the many reasons I look back on my church going days and wince. He's a republican… so he's the right one. If these people did their homework, they'd see that McCain's voting record (at least before he started cowtailing to the religious right) was much more on the other side of the road (pro-stem cell, pro-choice). They'd also find that he wasn't a card carrying church guy until about a year ago. Pitiful.
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Awesome… one of the many reasons I look back on my church going days and wince.
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Precisely whose wallets are really on the line here? When they pass the collection plate, and you expect your money to go toward feeding the hungry, sheltering the homeless – some "activist pastor" decides to take that money and support a political campaign. Where's the accountability to make sure this money is spent for charity, not for personal gain? The pastors won't pay the fine – it's on the parisioners' heads! It's the same thing that happened on Wall Street – public money going to private ends. Utterly disgraceful.
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Couldn't have said it better myself.
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< ">JohnMcCain” target=”_blank”>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XCXOZpwT2ek&fe...">JohnMcCain on “Christian characte…
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