Don Tobin on Churches and Politics

I have written several times here about the problem of churches' intervention in political campaigns and the resulting pressure on democratic political processes when religious organizations are able to use their often formidable organizational discipline in favor of a partisan issue or candidate.  See, e.g., here, here and here.   For an example of the way some churches blatantly intervene in politics, see The IRS and Church Tax Exemptions in Religion Ethics Newsweekly (online) about the pastor of Fairfield Christian Church in Lancaster Ohio.  For the perspective from Americans for Separation of Church and State, see this link.

Several commentators have lately suggested that the ban on partisan politics in churches should simply be lifted, either because it is an impractical prohibition on important activity in a democracy or an infringement on religious freedom or free speech.  See, e.g , Richard W. Garnett, A Quiet Faith? Taxes, Politics, and the Privatization of Religion, 42 B.C. L. REV. 771, 800 (2001) ( an article that engages in considerable polemics, calling section 501(c)(3)  "the tip of a monstrous iceberg of tax law that affects churches" and providing cites to a number of other articles questioning the constitutionality of the prohibition based on religious freedom and free speech rationales).   Others acknowledge practical enforcement difficulties, claim literal enforcement is "unpalatable", and suggest at least some limitation on the scope of the ban on campaign intervention. See Rendering Unto Caesar by Alan Feld.

In that context, we should welcome Don Tobin's recent contribution, available through SSRN. It is an interesting piece supporting the current ban (based in large part on the destructive impact on democratic processes of powerful, taxpayer subsidized religious views) and suggesting ways to enforce the ban that would make the government's actions more transparent while taking the IRS out of the political hotseat in this regard.  See Political Campaigning by Churches and Charities:  Hazardous for 501(c)(3)s; Dangerous for Democracies (Nov. 2006).