Don’t worry that children never listen to you. Worry that they are always watching you.
Thought to be by Robert Fulghum
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Pastors pledge to defy IRS, preach politics from pulpit ahead of election – Fox News
Peanut Gallery: Preaching politics from the pulpit? Nothing new here – in fact, America has a long tradition of political pulpit pounding dating back to the Revolutionary War. One of the chief advocates for rebellion was Scots Presbyterian minister John Witherspoon (Wikipedia link) who was also a signer of the Declaration of Independence. It wasn’t easy then, and it’s not easy now.
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Pastors pledge to defy IRS, preach politics from pulpit ahead of election
By Cristina Corbin – Published September 23, 2012 -FoxNews.com
More than 1,000 pastors are planning to challenge the IRS next month by deliberately preaching politics ahead of the presidential election despite a federal ban on endorsements from the pulpit.
The defiant move, they hope, will prompt the IRS to enforce a 1954 tax code amendment that prohibits tax-exempt organizations, such as churches, from making political endorsements. Alliance Defending Freedom, which is holding the October summit, said it wants the IRS to press the matter so it can be decided in court. The group believes the law violates the First Amendment by “muzzling” preachers.
“The purpose is to make sure that the pastor — and not the IRS — decides what is said from the pulpit.”
– Erik Stanley, Alliance Defending Freedom
“The purpose is to make sure that the pastor — and not the IRS — decides what is said from the pulpit,” Erik Stanley, senior legal counsel for the group, told FoxNews.com. “It is a head-on constitutional challenge.”
Stanley said pastors attending the Oct. 7 “Pulpit Freedom Sunday” will “preach sermons that will talk about the candidates running for office” and then “make a specific recommendation.” The sermons will be recorded and sent to the IRS.
“We’re hoping the IRS will respond by doing what they have threatened,” he said. “We have to wait for it to be applied to a particular church or pastor so that we can challenge it in court. We don’t think it’s going to take long for a judge to strike this down as unconstitutional.” Continue reading “Pastors pledge to defy IRS, preach politics from pulpit ahead of election – Fox News”
This is the price of freedom from government interference in an increasingly secular society. Who will pay the price? Who will fold like a cheap suit? And who will “stand and deliver” the message God has placed on their hearts? We’ll see….
Just a friendly public service reminder on behalf of the IRS, taken from the letter below:
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Please pray for believers in China….
What would it mean in the USA if someone succeeded in persuading the public that, in order to protect religion, the government should regulate it? The government regulates historic sites, river water, and bald eagles, all in the name of protecting them. What would happen if citizens accepted the hypothesis that the government needs to regulate religion in order to protect it? What might that look like?
Christians have good reason to conduct this mind experiment, because if they ignore the problem, they may find themselves ensnared in it.
China is an example of a country where the government alleges to be protecting religion by regulating it. The history of religion in China is beyond the scope of this post, but the information is easily uncovered in a Google search. It is China’s current status with regard to religious freedom that is of interest.
In China, there are…
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Last week, I gave a conference to a Catholic men’s group on voting with an informed conscience. During the time for questions after the talk, one of the gentlemen asked a thorny question:
“What if there’s a “pro-choice” candidate who supports 5 other issues I like? Are you telling me that if I vote for him, I’m committing a mortal sin?”
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