CHURCHES AND SECULAR POLITICS
Some people have told me that “church should not be involved in politics”. By that, they often mean that clergy should not address controversial economic issues from the pulpit or in conversation with parishioners. They want church to be a sterile place, devoid of anything that might disturb their ideological comfort zone. In a Christian church of any denomination, however, that is not an option. One cannot explicate the teachings of Jesus without addressing public policy issues, simply because the activity of Jesus was an attack on the public power structure of His day which He sought to replace with that of the Kingdom of God, or Kingdom of Heaven, to use the equivalent term in the Gospel of Matthew. As a non-profit, IRC 501(c)(3) corporation, churches are not allowed to support or oppose candidates for public office. We recognize, support, and agree with, these boundaries. Accordin...