When Evangelicals freak out.

[HappySkeptic]

This is why their tax exempt status needs to be reviewed. They want to be players in the political arena, but they don't want to pay the entrance fees. If you want to preach politics from the pulpit, you need to lose that tax exempt status and start paying your fair share. Don't want to pay? Don't fucking play.

Of course, our spinless corporate owned overlords elected officials will never consider it.

Here in Canada, it was the right wing that imposed heavy restrictions on what churches (and all charities) could say in the political arena, because they saw religion and charities as left-wing.

Basically, no religious leader could advocate for a political party from the pulpit, or the church could instantly lose status.  Even mentioning the name of a political leader or party or party policy in a negative or positive light could lose status.  Absolutely zero activity or publication of a church could be considered partisan, or they lose status.

My liberal church has one of their stated values as "social justice", a phrase they have used for many decades, not something that was invented in the SJW social media era.  This was considered by conservative government auditors as partisan, and had to be removed as a value of the church, or it would lose status.

Churches are allowed to use 10% of their money and activity on projects that have political overtones, but are explicitly non-partisan.  For instance, a church may fund non-partisan research on climate change, or poverty, provided it never mentions any bills before government, or criticizes or advocates-for any government, politician's or party policies.

The Liberal government reversed enforcement on these, but they are still on the books.

In a sense, the restrictions make sense.  However, as someone who was on a church board under such gag laws, I can say that they felt overly restrictive.