Ever heard of something called the "Pulpit Initiative?" If you spent part of your Sunday with your buns glued to a pew, you just might have. Let's back up. A group of ministers have come together to challenge the IRS regulation that prohibits pastors from making political endorsements from the pulpit* (it's actually a much broader rule the bans tax-exempt organizations, like churches but including a variety of others, from involvement in political campaigns). So yesterday, more than 30 ministers took partisan messages to their congregants in a flagrant violation of -- and challenge to -- the IRS rule, in the hopes of generating a legal battle. So, did politics seep into the sermon you heard yesterday -- or at any point during the course of this campaign season? Do you look to your spiritual head -- of whatever faith, on whatever day you worship -- for that sort of guidance, or do you see religion as a necessary respite from politics?
*This blog post brought to you by the letter P.






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