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Campaigning For Specific Candidates In Church? Ok? (1 Viewer)

Campaigning For Specific Candidates In Church? Ok?


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From a Christiam standpoint, IMO it is in inappropriate to politicize the Church.   Christ was never concerned with the laws of man and their kingdoms.  Christ was concerned with people having faith and treating others with love and respect.  From a government perspective, what goes on in church is of no business of the state and they should state out of it.  The Constitution is a document which empowers and limits the state.  It is not a document which governs or restricts what a church can do.  In fact it expressly denies the government ability to make any laws with respect to the establishment of religion.  Ideally, they both should stay out of each other's business.  

 
From a Christiam standpoint, IMO it is in inappropriate to politicize the Church.   Christ was never concerned with the laws of man and their kingdoms.  Christ was concerned with people having faith and treating others with love and respect.  From a government perspective, what goes on in church is of no business of the state and they should state out of it.  The Constitution is a document which empowers and limits the state.  It is not a document which governs or restricts what a church can do.  In fact it expressly denies the government ability to make any laws with respect to the establishment of religion.  Ideally, they both should stay out of each other's business.  




The Johnson Amendment. From NPR

Under terms of the 1954 legislation (named for its principal sponsor, then-Sen. Lyndon Johnson), churches and other nonprofit organizations that are exempt from taxation “are absolutely prohibited from directly or indirectly participating in, or intervening in, any political campaign on behalf of (or in opposition to) any candidate for elective public office,” according to the IRS website.

 
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I voted  probably not OK. 
But- historically black churches, particularly in the South, have played a huge role in the civil rights movement. And a lot of that involved voting, and black preachers, including Martin Luther King Jr, certainly provided political guidance amd urged their congregation to vote in a certain and united fashion. So this is nothing new, and I think the argument could be made that it’s been overall a positive. 
 

But theoretically, on paper, it’s probably not OK. 

 
Id say not ok.  I would not want my church doing so...nor do I think any organizations receiving tax exemptions (and I go beyond church on this) should be openly campaigning for any candidate or even party.

 
I voted not OK.  Especially during a church service.  But the church leader is probably free to campaign on his own time.  And this can appear to cross-over if the church leader has a large presence in the community.

 
The Johnson Amendment. From NPR


Yes, the Johnson Amendment legislated it's interpretation of the Establishment clause by trying to force churches to incorporate and follow the government rules.. if you read the IRS instructions and associated law, you will see that churches are not required to do this to qualify for the tax exemption.  But all accountants will tell churches to incorporate as a 501c3 organization to ensure their exemption.  Many churches refuse and aren't legally under the Johnson Amendment. 

 
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Haven't been to church in 40 years. Is this unusual?
My dad showed me a video of a preacher railing against Obama because the preacher thought we weren't spending enough on defense. 

Churches have gotten incredibly political.

Having just said that, "churches" is a massive catch all, and some churches aren't political at all.

But the moral majority, the movement of the evangelicals into politics, that's not new at all. It has happened during our lifetime. 

 
My dad showed me a video of a preacher railing against Obama because the preacher thought we weren't spending enough on defense. 

Churches have gotten incredibly political.

Having just said that, "churches" is a massive catch all, and some churches aren't political at all.

But the moral majority, the movement of the evangelicals into politics, that's not new at all. It has happened during our lifetime. 
This sounds miserable.

 
Haven't been to church in 40 years. Is this unusual?
It depends on the church.  When I was growing up, my household was not fundamentalist, but it was fundamentalist-adjacent (paternal grandparents and my uncle/aunt were fundies whereas my parents and the maternal side of my family were mainline protestants).  I do remember the Baptist church my grandparents attended featuring a clear political message, but I don't remember any details and I was young enough at the time that I might be totally misremembering.

It sometimes feels as if politics has also become endemic in mainline denominations, but that's lefty woke politics, not Moral Majority politics.

Then again, I've never had a problem finding an apolitical church.

 
Haven't been to church in 40 years. Is this unusual?


It's extremely unusual in my experience to see something this direct where churches at scale are playing this video of the Vice President of the United States endorsing a candidate during a regular Sunday Morning service. 

Quite normal for churches to be like tons of other organizations and encouraging people to get out and vote. That's a radically different thing from endorsing a particular candidate.  

 
It depends on the church.  When I was growing up, my household was not fundamentalist, but it was fundamentalist-adjacent (paternal grandparents and my uncle/aunt were fundies whereas my parents and the maternal side of my family were mainline protestants).  I do remember the Baptist church my grandparents attended featuring a clear political message, but I don't remember any details and I was young enough at the time that I might be totally misremembering.

It sometimes feels as if politics has also become endemic in mainline denominations, but that's lefty woke politics, not Moral Majority politics.

Then again, I've never had a problem finding an apolitical church.
I'd think people would ultimately go to the church where they hear what they want or what they feel is beneficial.

 
I think what's especially unusual in this case is the source. This isn't some rogue pastor. This is coming from the White House. 

It's one thing when a preacher goes off on their own and gets too political from the pulpit. Maybe they get carried away or they don't clearly understand the law.

For the Vice President of the United States to pre record this message and distribute it to 300 churches across the state for a coordinated effort to use the church to endorse a candidate seems incredible. 

 
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Totally ok with it on a personal level.  No clue about the legality of it.

Churches in the US have slowly been drifting political for years, might as well be upfront about it.

Like IK said, I wouldn’t want the church I attended to do it, however. 

 
In my answer I’m ignoring the legal aspect as I don’t really care about that - if it’s the law then I’m not ok with them getting treatment they shouldn’t.  But on a personal level, I’m fine with it - seems like folks are a tad naive about what organized religion has been doing for years.  Telling you how to live your life or how god/God/Mohammed wants you to live your life.  Seems like a fit to me.  Although it’s possible there’s an angle I haven’t thought of.  

 
Yes. It seems like Pence and Harris are both clear on this. 

One is in the past. One is happening now. 

Does Pence having done this make it ok for Harris?
Well it seems to not be an issue. 

Personally, I wouldn't want to be getting these political ads. I'd begin to have some introspection as to if this is good use of my time.

As an aside Trump appealing to Evangelicals is something I have always found pretty odd. Definition of tribal politics. 

 
Because both sides did it?
Yeah - speaking from is it ok to do standpoint. Seems as if these churches and politicians have no issues doing this.

I assumed that Harris (and Pence) were delivering some generic get out and vote message, skirting around the issues a bit. There was zero attempt to veil anything. 

 
I’m not sure I’m fan of the idea that corporations and media organizations can endorse a candidate, but churches and charities can’t. 
I agree with you as a matter of philosophy, but I would still not want my church to endorse a candidate.  I wouldn't mind it being legal -- I just don't want to personally be party to that.

 
I agree with you as a matter of philosophy, but I would still not want my church to endorse a candidate.  I wouldn't mind it being legal -- I just don't want to personally be party to that.
This is where I’m at and why I voted it’s ok.  It’s not the type of church I would want to be associated with but I just don’t see it as a big deal if one wants to do it and the members are ok with it. 

 
Slightly tangential, but I think it's weird that nonprofits can endorse political positions and specific legislation.....but they can't endorse political candidates. Seems like we either need to ban it all or allow it all.

On the subject of this thread: if my church did that, it would be an instant dealbreaker for me. But I bet I'm in the extreme minority. In fact, I bet there's an inverse correlation between "How often do you attend church?" and "How much are you bothered by political campaigning in church?"
 
Pressed the wrong option.  Meant not OK.  

I’m not OK with with a lot of what organized religion does, this is just one of them (though admittedly it’s low on the list).   

 
Slightly tangential, but I think it's weird that nonprofits can endorse political positions and specific legislation.....but they can't endorse political candidates. Seems like we either need to ban it all or allow it all.
This is always a problem with respect to any regulation of election speech. The different treatment of “issue ads” and “election ads” was one of the primary reasons why McCain-Feingold was passed.

 
Church can do what it wants. If mine did this id be looking for another church. They are focused on the wrong things. 

Not sure how my position falls into the options. null vote?

 

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