Question about church influence during the election...

[AdvancedProgress]

I understand that if a preacher tells his congregation who to vote for that the IRS is capable of yanking the church's tax-exempt status.

During the election, Tennessee's proposition #1 was to change the state's constituion to define marriage as between a man and a woman. Which, of course, passed by overwhelming majority.

Prior to the election I saw a church sign that said something as blatant as "Vote Yes on Prop #1".
Does this threaten that church's tax-exempt status?

[RB TexLa]

1. No, it doesn't

[AdvancedProgress]

2. Hmm...

Where's the logic in that?

:wtf:

[Bitwit1234]

3. Nutcase Blanchard

This person went to a church in Minnesota and the preacher told his 'SUBJECTS' to vote for her. He held a political rally. Very very illegal. But IRS has not even started to investigate. This is the republican way tho...the churchs get to campaign for the republicans and still get tax free status.

[Sammy Pepys]

4. Probably not

Don't know the law specifically, but tax exemptions usually seem to start being questioned when a church starts spending money or endorsing specific candidates or getting extremely political. I don't know if this gets it that far.

[longship]

5. I think the test is "partisanship" not issue advocacy.

Churches can advocate issues; cannot advocate candidates or parties.

[AdvancedProgress]

6. Kinda sketchy...

But I suppose I can see the difference. Not that I agree with it though.

[Igel]

7. Propositions aren't people and don't belong to parties.

They're issues. Churches--or any other NGO--can take a stand on an issue. Small-p politics.

What they cannot do is say, "Vote for Pettibottom Hornstrangler (Q) for County Judge." That is big-P politics, clearly partisan (although I wonder what would happen if the race was non-partisan, i.e., no political parties involved per se?).

The church I was in would rail against specific politicians; but one doctrine was also 'don't vote', so had the IRS come they might have gotten the ministers on a technicality, but the entire 'don't vote' takes the sting out of the vituperation.