Politics From The Pulpit
Deep Breather Steve set off a firestorm of callers today when he claimed that Nazi’s had no religious affiliation. Several callers appeared to prove him wrong but DBS refused to call anyone “Daddy,” unlike Pete who gave in to demands from the PBM crew and the Dominick Clan and was forced to call Sean “Daddy.” It seems Pete has adopted Sean’s lingo and used the word redic (short for ridiculous) during Monday’s show. It was very humiliating for Pete. Go easy on him. Anyway, Deep Breather Steve’s comments were made within a much larger discussion. Should religious preachers be allowed to endorse politicians from the pulpit and not lose their tax exempt status for their church? I suppose one could make the argument that asking preachers to not talk about politics would be a from of censorship, but then again there is supposed to be a seperation of church and state. It seems as if politics have become infused with religious values and rhetoric and quite frankly I resent that. As a matter of fact…..I Reject and Denounce that idea. What do you think?
Preachers, Priests ,whatever can endorse candidates on the pulpit and in the news.
As soon as they do, their tax exemption should be eliminated.
They have a very large audience which is influenced by everything they say.
Enter politics, pay the price!
BTW: No censorship, just pay the price like all us normal folks do………..It’s called taxes!!!!!
God, this is one thing that really pisses me off!
Why should a mega church be able to influence a election without paying taxes!
ummm….. it’s ridic to spell ridiculous with an "e". Pray Pete doesn’t see this and make you call him "Daddy" Aaron. haha!! btw, i find the whole "peanut gallery" at PBM very funny when you guys chime in and jab at Pete. Wake up sex, hiiiiiiilarious!
I agree that a religious organization should not be able to keep it’s exempt status while endorsing a candidate, but how do we decide when it’s a religious representative, and a man who has a religious background, doing the endorsing? Would it not be easy for such a rep. to just say that he’s only representing himself personally in his endorsement? Or does the fact that he’s a religious leader like Wright or Hagge supersede that? thoughts?
B.C. Weasel you are quickly becoming my nemesis but you are absolutely right. I should have spell checked ridiculous. My apologies and I will fix it in the am. I will not be calling Pete Daddy anytime soon.
sorry Aaron, I just call it like I see it. does this mean I will have to get a hairless cat or something? muuuooohhhaaahahaha!!
The difference is not just endorsing a candidate it’s when they turn Sunday morning into a campaign speech for a particular candidate or against one where the difference lies.
JG I agree but the thing is the followers of these people listen to everything they say on or off the pulpit.
If they appear on a talk show, news programs, radio or whatever and make comments that favor a particular candidate then his/her followers take it as gospel.
Look at the influence James Dobson has. He writes articles that appear in many of the nations newspapers.
If your profession is being a religious leader and you use that influence in any way to shape political outcomes, then you should pay taxes like everybody else.
so Steve, you are saying then that unless a religious figurehead has a disclaimer regarding what capacity he’s speaking to come out his mouth first, he should assume that people are going to take it as gospel and representative of his organizations standpoints? ok.
In a word…………yes! I don’t believe in him getting a free ride at the expense of regular taxpayers.
Part of the tax free status given to religious organizations is on the condition that they not be politically biased.
I think many churches nowadays are treading a very fine line when they "endorse" or "favor" anyone.
These church leaders are assumed to be speaking for their church anytime they speak to the media in my opinion. That is why they are called the head of their church. They are the church leader 24/7.
The CEO of a company has every right to endorse a candidate, but he/she and their corporation both pay taxes. Well, they’re supposed to anyway.
I’ve lost my mind on this………….
You know I’m crazy about this issue and the more I think about it, the more pissed I get! Of course churches don’t have to lobby too much. They already have the golden prize, no taxes!
Can you imagine if the Catholic church had to pay taxes on their assets in this country?
Not just the Catholics, but what about the mega churches?
Too, too much influence without paying the price in my book.
My opinion is…shut up (politically) or put up the money.
Final Thought:
The IRS are such pussies that they go after individuals for a $1000 mistake on their forms but they let churches claim millions if not billions as tax exempt!
What is wrong with this picture?
I may regret my comments about the IRS!
This is what happens when I watch Craig Ferguson!