It's painful

There is absolutely no constitutional reason why the government (by way of the IRS) should be allowed to restrict freedom of speech within the church.

The original intended relationship between religion and government has been extorted and bastardized into what the ACLU and others prefer it to be.

http://www.alliancedefensefund.org/userdocs/Pulpit_Initiative_FAQ_candidates_2009.pdf


http://www.alliancedefensefund.org/userdocs/Pulpit_Initiative_executive_summary_candidates_2009.pdf

http://law.richmond.edu/rjolpi/Spring%202009/Abb_-_PDF.pdf

My friend tried to convince me that the ACLU is "the defender of the Bill of Rights" – that is bullshit. They would never defend any constitutional right (such as freedom of speech from the pulpit), unless it serves their own purposes. The cases they defend never stray from an easily ascertained agenda of ideals. I could make my claim more detailed, perhaps I will later.

But here is the ACLU's response. http://blog.aclu.org/2008/09/12/adf-advice-to-churches-violate-the-tax-law/ They don't seek to right the transgressions of the IRS code, they don't even discuss the issue... they only seek to undermine the credibility of the sponsoring organization (ADF).