In Election Season, IRS Sits in Judgment

"One of my highest ministerial values is the freedom of the pulpit," said the Rev. Dean J. Snyder, senior minister of Foundry United Methodist Church in Northwest Washington. "If a person feels called upon to endorse a candidate as part of their proclamation, I defend them to the hilt. As far as I'm concerned, lawyers or the IRS don't dictate what's said in the pulpit."

The Rev. Martyn Minns, rector of Truro Episcopal Church in Fairfax, said he never has endorsed a candidate in a sermon or even announced his personal preference. "I haven't done that, can't imagine doing that."

On the other hand, "I can't say I'd never do that," he said. "There might be a truly bad person running for office, someone who advocates racist policies or other things contrary to Scripture."

Such a situation arose for Rabbi Barry Freundel of Kesher Israel synagogue in Northwest, when he served a synagogue years ago in Connecticut. The town's mayor, who was running for reelection, had made anti-Semitic comments in public and even wrote an offensive letter on the occasion of the synagogue's 75th anniversary.

"I didn't mention him by name," Freundel said. "I said, 'This is an important election coming up. Keep in mind the record of the two candidates.' "

Despite their support for a free pulpit, those interviewed said endorsements, direct or indirect, are unwise.

One of greatest risks is dividing the congregation over politics, endangering its religious mission, several said. This is especially true in the nation's capital, where every congregation is likely to have some members who are Republican, Democrat or independent, or hold political jobs.

"This congregation does not need me to tell them how to vote," said Foundry's Snyder. "But they do need me to provide a biblical and theological perspective of faith on important issues and on how we live together as a people."

Yusuf Saleem, imam of Masjid Muhammad in Northwest Washington, said his messages at Friday prayers -- the weekly communal worship for Muslims -- focus on the "glorification of God" and on being good citizens of one's neighborhood, city and country. His mosque reserves political discussions for bipartisan forums where candidates or their representatives appear, he said.

Saleem has an answer for anyone who wants to know how he stands on a political race. "This is how the American system works," he tells them. "When you go into the booth, it's a private booth, a private vote, and that's how to keep it."

M. Bruce Lustig, senior rabbi of Washington Hebrew Congregation, also in Northwest, said "any sermon worth its salt" will address societal problems with overt or suggested connections to political issues, such as gun control and welfare. But he would never tell his congregation of more than 3,300 families how to vote -- "that's 10,000 some-odd people of all predilections," he said.

"I can tell them what Judaism teaches," the rabbi said. As to which candidate or party he believes will do the best job, they can "extrapolate" if they choose to do so, he said.

Plymouth Congregation's Hagler said it's important to speak out against government policies that don't follow such New Testament imperatives as acting peacefully rather than vengefully and helping the disadvantaged.

"I hope I've prayed and preached the Gospel well enough so that the congregation comes to the same conclusion" as he does about a political race, Hagler said. "But people have to make their own decisions."

Revocation of tax-exempt status is rare. The best-known case involved a church in Vestal, N.Y., that worked against Bill Clinton in the 1992 presidential campaign and purchased full-page ads in USA Today and the Washington Times headlined "Christians Beware." The IRS revoked the church's tax-exempt status, and federal courts upheld the decision.