The 2024 election cycle is well
underway. With primary elections already
happening in many states, we’ve observed some religious leaders and people of
faith questioning whether they should be involved.
Our civic responsibility is to vote. The power to change America is in our hands. Whether an election is to fill a seat on a local school board or the Oval Office, we keep seeing anti-religious-liberty candidates elected who then promote their anti-religious-liberty policies. How did they gain so much power? The answer is obvious: People of faith largely stayed home and didn’t bother to vote. Tragically, only a fraction of Americans who say religious liberty is important to them actually vote in the major elections. People of faith need to see voting as not just a right, but also a responsibility.
We recognize that religious freedom is indeed one of the greatest blessings bestowed to our country and the first freedom from which all other liberties flow. At the same time, however, we cannot ignore how important other civil rights — such as the right to vote — are to the flourishing of our country.
In the American system of government, the government is “of the people, by the people, and for the people.” So, showing respect for authority in the United States includes being an active part of the process and voting. Part of the bargain of living in liberty is a duty to vote.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer was a person of faith who took a bold stand against the evils of Nazi Germany. His words still ring true, today: “Not to speak is to speak. Not to act is to act.” One of the ways we speak and act is by voting; so not to vote is to vote.
This election season, we encourage every religious American to vote according to their conscience and their values.
There are many misconceptions about what rights and freedoms pastors and houses of worship have on political matters. Opponents of religious freedom often manipulate information to make you believe that politics and the pulpit may never converge, making faith-based organizations, churches, synagogues and everyday religious Americans fear legal ramifications if they mention or participate in politics. But the truth is, that fear isn’t based on the law. It’s a scare tactic by those who want to silence people of faith and keep them from voicing their opinions and voting their values.
The number of things pastors can do during election season far outweighs the number of things they can’t do — in both quantity and importance.
1. It’s okay to speak about political
issues in the Church
It is a misconception that pastors
cannot address political issues from the pulpit — even “hot button” issues like
religious liberty, abortion, and same-sex marriage. Anyone who attempts to silence a pastor for
addressing issues is violating that pastor’s constitutional rights under the
First Amendment. Pastors have every
right to talk about any of those issues, and there’s never been any case in
American history that said pastors can’t do that. America’s Founders saw religion as a necessary
component to a healthy, moral society — not a taboo topic to bar completely
from the political realm; neither was political talk to be barred from
churches. Sermons on politics,
government, and controversial issues were common at our nation’s founding, and
popular among pastors and churches on varying sides of the political spectrum.
2. Religious leaders can educate their
congregation about politics
Religious leaders are tasked with
equipping their congregants in works of service, and that includes representing
their faith and morality in the voting booth. Pastors are fully protected when it comes to
educating members of their church about the political process, handing out
non-partisan voter guides and flyers so members can read about each candidate’s
positions, and even providing the opportunity for members to register to vote.
3. Inviting political candidates to
speak at church is allowed
Pastors and churches can invite
political candidates to address their congregation from the pulpit, as long as
all the candidates in a race are included in the invitation. What if only one candidate accepts the
invitation and shows up? No problem!
4. Pastors can participate in politics
in their individual capacity
Pastors can participate in political
campaigns, hold office within political campaigns, and even endorse a candidate
in their individual capacity as a private citizen. What religious leaders cannot do during
elections according to IRS regulations, there are only two things that pastors
and churches, when classified as a 501(c)(3) organization, cannot do:
1. A church entity may not endorse one
candidate over another
This does not mean that a pastor — in
his individual capacity as an American citizen — may not endorse one candidate
over another. A 501(c)(3) church or
organization may not, however, as an organization endorse one candidate over
another or be publicly against one candidate over the other.
2. A church may not give its money to
one candidate over another
This doesn’t mean that pastors or church
members, in their individual capacities as private citizens, cannot donate to
the political campaign of their choice. But
an official 501(c)(3) organization may not donate church funds or resources to
one political candidate over another.
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