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I am circumspect about signing petitions or endorsing the numerous institutional positions that clergy are asked to support. My two criteria for adding my name to a letter, petition or position paper are: They are core to my personal and religious beliefs, and I can take some action in support of the position to which I am signing on.
Increasingly, I have been troubled by the partisan involvement of some religious communities and clergy in this country. Often, when an endorsement is helpful, candidates and government agencies overlook the Internal Revenue Code restriction that limits the political activities of charitable organizations—including synagogues, churches and other religious groups—that are exempt from taxation. According to the Internal Revenue Code, “religious groups may lose their tax-exempt status if they officially endorse a political candidate.”
The Alliance Defense Fund (ADF), a conservative Christian organization has launched a direct attack on this IRS prohibition by asking clergy to purposefully endorse candidates in their sermons thereby violating their tax-exempt status in order to force a court case. On September 28, pastors supporting the Alliance Defense Fund’s “Pulpit Freedom Sunday” endorsed candidates from their pulpits.
In response, The Interfaith Alliance Protecting Faith and Freedom circulated a pledge to uphold certain standards during the election season. Willingly, I added my name and called on colleagues: to educate members of our congregations about how our faith relates to issues of the day; to refrain from endorsing any candidate, either explicitly or implicitly, in or on behalf of our houses of worship; to prevent partisan speech from candidates or their surrogates, as well as the distribution of partisan materials, in our houses of worship; to resist using or soliciting the resources of houses of worship for the exclusive benefit of any candidate or party; to respect candidates whose religious beliefs are different from my own and stand against the use of religion to divide our communities; and to encourage members of our congregations to take an active role in civic life, including casting informed votes.
On Yom Kippur I said that this is a trying time for our nation. It is our national privilege and duty to vote, but I suppose that the choice of our next president will be pivotal in shaping the future of our nation. I hope we all participate by “casting informed votes” on Election Day.
Rabbi Peter J. Rubinstein
