Pulpit politics

Virginia Attorney General Kenneth Cuccinelli urged pastors to speak out politically Thursday morning at a breakfast for Fredericksburg-area pastors.

Over 250 church leaders attended "Christian Citizenship and Godly Government" breakfast sponsored by the conservative Virginia Christian Alliance.

Cuccinelli told pastors that they shouldn't be afraid to talk about candidates and issues. While churches can't endorse candidates or advocate the defeat of others without losing their tax-exempt status, pastors can personally get involved in the political process and even preach on social issues. Churches can also encourage voting through non-partisan voter registration campaigns and non-partisan voter guides, although they are barred from telling members who to vote for.

"Whether you're a Republican, a Democrat, a Libertarian or an independent, your becoming a pastor didn't negate your right to participate in political conversation," Cuccinelli said, according to prepared remarks printed in the Washington Post. "You didn't leave your First Amendment rights at the door."

Alliance president Donald Blake says church leaders are looking for assurances that they can address public policy issues from a biblical perspective without risking their tax-exempt status.

He said that it's important for pastors to be involved in the political process today because they are continuing the legacy of the pastors involved in the nation's founding.

"If you go all the way back to the founding of the country, to the Constitution, the Mayflower Compact, the Bill of Rights, the Declaration of Independence, pastors had influence on the men who wrote that," Blake said. "Pastors were there, church leaders, solid Christians were involved in the beginning days of our country. There's no reason they shouldn't be involved today... influencing people in lawmaking positions."

"Pro-choice groups and other activist people and organizations want to silence pastors and organizations with misinformation regarding church and state issues, tax status and other under-handed practices to keep the pulpits silent," read a statement on the Virginia Conservative Alliance's website.

Dr. Kenyn Cureton of the Family Research Council said each election season he's talked to pastors who have received a "scare letter" from Americans United for Separation of Church and State. Cureton said the letter will "tell pastors you shouldn't go there, there's separation of church and state in America, you shouldn't mix the pulpit with politics."

If they don't know their constitutional freedoms, pastors can be, understandably, "a little uneasy about engaging their culture and government," he said. "We tell pastors to totally ignore that."

Contrary to popular belief, Blake said, pastors are allowed to speak about politicized issues such as homosexuality, abortion or even high taxes from the pulpit as long as they don't endorse a particular political candidate. Churches are also allowed to host political candidates, as long as they allow all the candidates an opportunity to speak.

Cureton added that the IRS does specify that churches must only devote "insubstantial expenditures" to social and political issues. However, the IRS leaves "insubstantial" undefined, and the Alliance Defense Fund recommends that pastors limit church resources spent on social issues to around 15 percent.

Off the pulpit, pastors are allowed to endorse candidates as long as it's clear the candidate is not endorsed by the church.

Cuccinelli said it's not unusual for Christians to shy away from politics because they consider it dirty. He said when church leaders do that, "you just left the field to the other side."

He said that when pastors stay silent on political issues, they're staying silent on social issues and not fulfilling a spiritual responsibility, Fredericksburg.com reported.

"Pull out a map of Virginia and look where the abortion clinics are," Cuccinelli told the crowd, which included a large number of pastors from black churches. "That doesn't make you mad? You're a calmer person than I am. It makes me mad."

He also said "the homosexual agenda" arises during every General Assembly session. But he said that is not the only issue threatening conservative values.

"We have an out-of-wedlock problem," Cuccinelli said. "I mean, real men actually get married, right?"

Brian Gottstein, a spokesman for the attorney general's office said that Cuccinelli's aim was not to dispense legal advice, which is reserved for state clients. Instead, Cuccinelli spoke in general terms about what churches and their leaders can do regarding political campaigns and lobbying.

During the breakfast, Bishop Harry Jackson also spoke on "Restoring Family and Christian Citizenship."

Blake said a number of representatives from various organizations, including the Heritage Foundation and Liberty University's School of Law, attended the breakfast and handed out information.

"We have been over the years passive when it comes to addressing political issues," Pastor Joseph Henderson, an attendee at the event, told Fredericksburg.com. "The church has a rightful place to engage in the culture."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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