The Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission

ERLC no longer supports church free-speech bill

By Tom Strode - Apr 29, 2005 - 1

The Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission has pulled its support for a bill it says no longer protects the free speech rights of churches.

The ERLC announced April 25 it would not back the latest version of the Houses of Worship Free Speech Restoration Act, H.R. 235, because of revisions it says increase the likelihood of government intervention in churches and other religious bodies.

Unlike previous versions sponsored by Rep. Walter Jones, R.-N.C., the version he introduced in this Congress does not allow political views expressed by religious leaders or members to be distributed beyond those in attendance at the service in which they are made. H.R. 235 also has new language saying such banned dissemination would include a “mailing that results in more than an incremental cost to the organization and any electioneering communication,” according to federal law.

Those changes potentially open churches up to government intrusion, according to the ERLC.

ERLC President Richard Land called the new version a “grotesquely bad idea.”

“We supported the original Jones bill, because, while we believe that churches shouldn’t endorse candidates, we also believe that it should be a church decision, not a government decision,” Land said.

“Under the new bill, the government would permit churches to endorse a candidate but then would allow government investigators to come in and determine when the church has exceeded the government’s narrow parameters of permission,” he said. “It gives the government foxes a hunting license to enter the churches’ hen houses, and we all know what happens when foxes get into hen houses—hens get killed, and foxes get fat.”

As in versions Jones introduced in the last two Congresses, the latest Houses of Worship bill would amend the Internal Revenue Code to prevent the tax-exempt status of churches and other religious organizations from being affected by the “content, preparation or presentation” of sermons or other addresses during religious services or meetings. Under a 1954 congressional measure, churches and other tax-exempt organizations are prohibited from participation in an election campaign or intervention on behalf of any candidate.

With one qualification, the ERLC endorsed the bills Jones sponsored before this session. The ERLC supported the legislation to prevent the government from defining the church’s mission, but it remained committed to encouraging Baptist churches to refrain from endorsing candidates, Land said.

The latest version’s provisions limiting dissemination of viewpoints and requiring mailings not exceed an “incremental cost” were added to gain the support of Sen. John McCain,R.-Ariz., according to the ERLC.

The ERLC hopes Jones will reintroduce his original version.

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