DATE: October 3, 2002 FROM: Jerry Falwell
ATTENTION ALL PASTORS: You May Endorse Candidates and Your Church May Distribute Voter
Guides
[...] Liberal groups are using this week's defeat of Rep. Walter B. Jones' "Houses of
Worship Political Speech Protection Act" (H.R. 2357) as a means to proclaim that pastors
must painstakingly avoid political issues in their pulpits.
[...] I talked yesterday with Grover Norquist, a great conservative and president of
Americans For Tax Reform. Mr. Norquist was excited that he had finally convinced the
Internal Revenue Service to publish the specifics of what pastors and churches may and may
not legally do in election campaigns. I urge all pastors and church leaders to visit the
Web site of Americans for Tax Reform (www.atr.org) to learn what is and is not appropriate
in regard to church and government involvement. Mr. Norquist and his team pressed the IRS
to define, in detail, to what extent tax-exempt religious organizations may properly be
involved in the political process. [...]
Here are a few excerpts of what every pastor and church may legally do:
* Churches may distribute non-partisan voter guides describing candidates' stands on the
issues.
* Churches may engage in non-partisan voter registration drives;
* Pastors may endorse candidates from the pulpit as long as they make it clear they are
doing so as individuals - not as a church endorsement;
* Churches may invite candidates to attend and speak at events as long as they make the
offer available to all candidates for the same office. It is not required that all
candidates attend, but rather that they all have the same opportunity to do so;
* A local church may not endorse a candidate, only the pastor as an individual may do so;
* Pastors may urge their congregations to write, E-mail or call their elected
representatives to lobby for specific legislation;
* Churches may engage in active lobbying as long as the amount is not "substantial"
("Substantial" has been defined by the courts as 5% of a person's/organization's time or
resources.)
I urge 200,000 evangelical pastors and church leaders to "render unto Caesar" on November
5th by advising their 70 million parishioners to cast "Christian" votes for the men and
women who best represent their biblical values.
and one more thing:
The Jones bill was designed to annul a 48-year-old law that prohibits all tax-exempt
groups - including churches - from participating in political activity under the threat of
loss of tax-exempt status. However, it is important to note that only one church in the
history of our nation has ever lost its tax-exempt status because of political
wrongdoings. And in that case - wherein a pastor irresponsibly purchased billboards and
newspaper ads telling people not to vote for Bill Clinton - the loss of tax-exempt status
lasted for only an hour before being returned.
screw the law.