On September 28th the socially conservative Alliance Defense Fund is going to goad, stoke and provoke a federal agency that most Americans hope will never, ever take notice of them. That agency would be the Internal Revenue Service and let me add that you must really be devoted to an issue, or certain of victory, or a masochist it you want to publicly draw a line in the sand with this office of government.
The ADF wishes to protest a 54-year ban on tax-exempt religious organizations offering endorsements of politicians and more generally engaging in political activities. To this end, it has rounded up a few dozen pastors in twenty states who are vowing to advocate on behalf of given candidates from their pulpits.
It's going to get messy, what with questioning the governmenthood of the IRS and all that. In the ADF's own words:
"At ADF, we do not welcome attacks but understand they will come as we humbly seek to do God's will to defend these pastors who love God and want to serve Him. We expect complaints will be made to the IRS. We will pray and stand firm. We will represent these pastors should they come under fire and we will fight this battle all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, if necessary." (Alliance Defense Fund, "Pulpit Freedom")
These activities are presently illegal and can lead to loss of tax-exempt status. Looking over the ADF's history (it was founded 1994 by James Dobson and representatives of 34 other ministries) I am guessing that the praises of Barack Obama will not be sung in those scofflaw churches on "Pulpit Freedom Sunday."
An attorney for the group told The Washington Post: "It is the job of the pastors of America to debate the proper role of church in society. It's not for the government to mandate the role of church in society."
Begging to differ is a counter-association of clergy affiliated with the United Church of Christ. They have already promised to preach sermons in favor of Church-State separation as a sort of preemptive strike. Too, they are suggesting that the IRS might want to send a few agents to witness next Sunday's law breaking (Can somebody from an organization representing non-belief take the UCC people out to lunch?).
In any case, this development calls attention to how central a role the courts are going to play in coming arguments about the Wall of Separation. On the back stroke, it also confirms something that many students of right-wing Christian groups know very well. Namely, that these Americans are ready, willing and able to engage in lengthy, complex and costly legal battles in an effort to achieve their ends.
If those secular believers and secular nonbelievers ever get around to lunch they might chat about how to raise tens of millions of dollars to hire skilled legal teams whose talent and commitment to the cause must be equal to that of their adversaries. They will need to confront an opponent which is actively looking for a protracted legal scrum and is so supremely confident of its strength that it is actually daring the IRS go ahead and make its day.
Jacques Berlinerblau is the Rabbi Harold White Chair in Jewish Civilization in Georgetown's Walsh School of Foreign Service and senior advisor to the Center for Jewish Civilization, where he was director from 2006 to June 2020. Berlinerblau has published on a wide variety of issues ranging from the sociology of heresy and modern Jewish intellectuals to African-American and Jewish-American relations.
