Political Discussion Question

Question

1. Should churches and other religious institutions take positions on political issues and candidates?

Answer 1

No, they should not, for two reasons.

First, churches as well as charities and certain other non-profit organizations - to maintain their tax-exempt status - are prohibited from engaging in overtly political activities. So the legality of engaging in politics is one factor to consider.

Second, there is an unstated quid-pro-quo between religion (represented by churches) and government: that in return for government "making no law with respect to religion," religious organizations will not engage in politics. If churches start getting actively involved in politics, then governments may feel threatened and could start looking for ways to indirectly regulate, punish, or control religious institutions.

The bottom line is that churches and government have mostly "kept the peace" in the U.S. for more than 200 years by staying out of each other's spheres of influence, and it will be best for all concerned if both churches and government continued to observe this mutually beneficial arrangement rather than to forsake it for some perceived short-term advantage.