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Panel on Religious Orgs and Campaign 2004
Kelly Jane Torrance
Update: Transcript available here.
The Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life held a panel discussion on Tuesday, September 28, in Washington, DC, on just how much freedom religious institutions should have to be part of the public square:
When a Bush-Cheney Campaign staffer emailed a supporter in Pennsylvania in June to ask for help identifying churches where "voters friendly to President Bush might gather on a regular basis," religious watchdog groups were quick to denounce the move as a violation of the separation of church and state. Yet for years congregations of varying denominations and political persuasions have sought to participate in the political process – from holding voter registration drives to issuing voter guides to endorsing candidates from the pulpit. Just where should churches draw the line?
The Forum also released the 2004 edition of their Politics and the Pulpit: A Guide to the Internal Revenue Code Restrictions on the Political Activity of Religious Organizations at the event.
For more information, and to register for "Pushing the Envelope? The Political Activities of Religious Organizations in Campaign 2004," visit the Forum's website.