What do you think of Pastors, Priests etc., telling you?

Question

who to vote for. It happened here in Minneapolis and the IRS are now investigating..The churches tax free status is now in jeporday. as I feel it should be, the separation of church and state, is at issue.

I feel the Tax exempt status isn't a right as some may believe, it's criteria isn't something you follow or not, it's the law. You have freespeech, It's time to think for yourself.

Answer 1

The idea appalls me. Clerics should preach their beliefs and nothing more.

Answer 2

I believe this is a blatent violation of Christians' First Amendment rights. The First Amendment reads in its entirety:

"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances."

People must understand that being a Christian isn't something we only do in Church; it's supposed to permeate each and every aspect of our lives. For those of us who vote (and there are some that do not, due to religious beliefs), we have the First Amendment right to discuss a political candidate's platform in our churches. This IRS rule takes away our right to freely excercise our religious beliefs. It's also a violation of our free speech rights.

Christians are NOT second-class citizens. If there was an IRS rule that outlawed discussion of politics in country clubs, I suspect it would be repealed immediately. Amazingly, detractors say Churches give up the rights of their parishioners when they "accept" tax-exempt status. This is a disingenuous position, since no American citizen should have to GIVE UP rights in order to worship and speak freely. So this is yet another example of how Christians are discriminated against in our country.

Peace.

Answer 3

Christians must remain neutral and not put their trust in human rulers.(Psalms 146:3) Their allegiance must be to God and his government only. The Bible says that man was not meant to rule over man. ( Ecclesiastes 8:9 ) Christians must obey the laws of governments as long as they do not conflict with God's laws. They maintain the same position as Jesus' apostles: "But Peter and the apostles answered and said, We must obey God rather than men." (Acts 5:29)
Human governments will soon be put out of existance and will be replaced by God's government which will rule over the entire earth. When you say the Lord's prayer and ask for God's Kingdom to come, that is what you are praying for.
The new government will last forever as seen at Daniel 2:44--"
"And in the days of these kings(current human rulers) the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed; and the kingdom shall not be left to other people; it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever." (No more politics, voting, or elections)
Christians should not put their trust or confidence in political governments that God will soon overthrow. We need to look to God's heavenly government as the only hope for all mankind.

Answer 4

The purpose of a pastor is to proclaim Jesus Christ and Him crucified for every person in that church. We all have sin that needs to be forgiven. Anything else is not what the church was established for. I don't need my pastor or any pastor telling who to vote for. I need him to bring me Christ.
This issue goes far beyond the trivial tax free status.

Answer 5

I am also appalled, and know that they should lose their tax exempt status, at least until the problem is solved (get rid of the priest or minister); if the church keeps the cleric, then tax penalties should be handed out to them in addition to losing the future tax exemption.

Answer 6

i don't have a problem with it - ours discussed the issues and pulls out who he believes is against the practices of CHristianity - for example if someone is pro abortion - we're told.

the IRS needs to keep their nose out of it - it's called free speech. the seperation of church and state is not at issue - the church has every right to discuss political and moral issues as they are part of the foundation of a person's moral decisions. the pastor does not hold a gun to your head and say - you must vote. anyone can get up on their soapbox and preach - you make up your own minds at the poles. they are just giving you another side, usually a more modest and moral driven opinion on the matter.

Answer 7

Never had that happen to me, and my priests are very outspoken. The worse they've done is hand out a "How to vote RC" pamphlet, which only says, vote for canidates who believe in these points. They don't stand over you when you vote to make sure you vote how they want. They can express their opinion, everyone does that. I remember every election, I get people in the streets telling me to vote for so and so because they like them.

Answer 8

This is a personal choice and has nothing to do with faith or religion, so i would have to agree with this one. Pastor, Priests, Clergy are in the business of saving souls not saving votes. god bless

Answer 9

I don't listen to what others say, even my pastor about elections. I pray and decide for myself who I should vote for. Church leaders are not leaders to make a person choose who or what we vote for, they are supposed to lead by example and prayer.

Answer 10

Render unto Caesar that which is Caesar's and unto God that which is God's. That church leader is meddling in political affairs, Caesar's affairs, and has lost his perspective of God. IRS should and will hit that one like a ton of mud.