David Barton: No need for pastors to fear IRS

ONENEWSNOW, 10/14/2010 by Becky Yeh - A Christian constitutional expert thinks the Internal Revenue Service's lack of response to a recent initiative shows there is no longer any reason for pastors to be silent on political issues when standing behind the pulpit (See earlier story).

Current law prohibits pastors from speaking on politics or endorsing a political candidate, but David Barton of WallBuilders says the IRS's intimidation of removing a church's tax exemption status is unconstitutional. Even though some pastors have intentionally crossed the line, Barton does not think the IRS wants to take them to court because it may lose.

"The IRS doesn't have any interest in doing this because if they do, I believe they know they are going to lose. And if they lose, you have 370,000 pastors in America who suddenly find out that there's no restriction on them," Barton suggests.

The WallBuilders president explains that churches are guaranteed tax exemption status under the Constitution, but he believes many pastors are afraid to speak about politics because they fear they will lose their letter of tax exemption.

"You cannot lose your tax exemption as a church because as a church, you have a constitutional standing for tax exemption," he points out. "So with that basis, losing your letter means absolutely nothing -- and that's something pastors are now figuring out."

Barton argues that the pulpit was and should continue to be the news perspective for America, so he encourages all pastors to speak out and stand for truth.