Protecting Churches Right to Speak

By 

Jay Sekulow

|
June 25, 2011

2 min read

Free Speech

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I spent most of the week in our offices in Washington, DC, working with our Government Affairs office.  One of the major issues that we are working on is the passage of the Houses of Worship Free Speech Restoration Act that has been introduced by Congressman Walter Jones.  We have helped draft this important piece of legislation and are urging its passage.  Specifically, we want to see this act passed into law in order to restore the constitutional rights protected by the First Amendment to churches across America.  Far too many pastors are being intimidated into silence on the critical cultural issues of the day.  Groups like Americans United for Separation of Church and State and People for the American Way continue to intimidate churches across the country.  This important piece of legislation will go a long way in ending this intimidation tactic.

 

We have also notified a number of churches that we are prepared to defend them in the event they are challenged by these groups or government agencies.  The idea that pastors cannot speak out on the issues of the day would be completely foreign to our Founding Fathers.  In fact, at the time of the founding of our country, pastors often had Election Day sermons, encouraging their members to vote.  They also urged their congregants to vote their moral convictions.  This should not be illegal in the United States today.  Unfortunately, because of this intimidation tactic, many pastors are fearful of loss of tax-exempt status. 

 

In the next few days, we will be sending information out to our members around the country in order to help us get this legislation passed.  If you are not receiving our newsletter updates, please sign up online at www.aclj.org at the top of our Home Page.  We also send out our newsletter information via the Internet. 

 

Much is at stake with regard to Houses of Worship being able to exercise free speech rights.  It is something we have been committed to for decades at the American Center for Law & Justice, and you can rest assured that we will continue this important fight!