Political Speech in Pulpit OK if It Is Liberal

During the last election season some members of the clergy, in combination with some public issue groups, decided to push the envelope created by some government regulators and speak out about some moral/political issues, even from the pulpit. Regular readers of this blog know that I don't think we should limit religious leaders from speaking about moral issues that happen to be political - no matter whether they speak from a liberal side or a conservative side. But the IRS would threaten churches that did so by saying they would lose tax-exempt status. You may have seen stories in the mainstream media about ministers speaking out in the last election. You may have read that the ACLU and/or Americans United for Separation of Church and State (AU) raised complaints.

But have you seen stories or complaints lately about this issue? A large movement in a similar mode took place this past labor day, but I don't recall seeing stories on the nightly news, and I don't recall hearing "separation of church and state" thrown about.

The AFL/CIO unions sponsor events in houses of worship to bring their opinions around for discussion with congregation members. The AFL/CIO has traditionally been liberal in its policies and political support. Could that have something to do with the fact that no one seemed to mind this series of events? Where is the ACLU? Where is AU? Where is the mainstream media?

Conservative blogger Michael Malkin has a well-formed post about this, which also explains the union program in more detail.

Union politicking at the pulpit