People in the United States are becoming increasingly accepting of pastors endorsing political candidates, according to findings from a recent report by Lifeway Research.
According to a report from Lifeway, “the percentage of Americans who see pastors endorsing a candidate in church as appropriate has risen steadily over the past 16 years.”
Lifeway found that while only 13% of respondents in 2008 found pastors endorsing a candidate in church as appropriate, that number rose to 29% this year, with 44% of respondents aged 18-34 supporting the idea.
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Regarding pastors endorsing a candidate “outside their church role,” 45% of respondents said this was appropriate, while 38% of respondents disagreed.
On whether it was “appropriate for a church to publicly endorse candidates for public office,” support for this increased from 22% in 2008 to 32% this year, according to the report.
Nevertheless, 48% of respondents believed that churches that endorse political candidates should lose their tax-exempt status, while 31% disagreed and 21% were unsure.
Data for the report came in part from an online survey of 1,200 Americans that was conducted Aug. 14-30, with a margin of error of plus or minus 3.3% at the 95% confidence level.
There has been much debate in recent years over whether the federal government should repeal the Johnson Amendment, a provision that prohibits tax-exempt nonprofits — including churches — from engaging in political campaigns.
In August, National Religious Broadcasters and Intercessors for America, along with the Texas-based Sand Springs Church and First Baptist Church Waskom, filed a complaint against the Internal Revenue Service, claiming that the Johnson Amendment discriminates against churches.
“Churches are placed in a unique and discriminatory status by the [Internal Revenue Code],” the lawsuit argues. “The IRC places them automatically within the ambit of 501(c)(3) and thereby silences their speech, while providing no realistic alternative for operating in any other fashion.”
In 1999, the Johnson Amendment survived a legal challenge when U.S. District Judge Paul L. Friedman of the District of Columbia upheld it when ruling against a church that had run ads against then-President Bill Clinton.
“In the circumstances presented here — where a tax-exempt church bought an advertisement that stated its opposition to a particular candidate for public office, attributed the advertisement to the church and solicited tax-deductible contributions for the advertisement — the IRS was justified in revoking the tax-exempt status of the church,” read the decision.
“Plaintiffs were offered a choice: they could engage in partisan political activity and forfeit their Section 501(c)(3) status or they could refrain from partisan political activity and retain their Section 501(c)(3) status. That choice is unconnected to plaintiffs’ ability to freely exercise their religion. Plaintiffs therefore have not demonstrated that the IRS substantially burdened their free exercise of religion.”
