LA Times piece about the challange to the IRS in California and the counter group trying to keep politics out of the pulpit. You might be surprised who's on which side.Meanwhile, a separate group of 180 ministers, rabbis and imams also has sought to counter the "pulpit initiative." Members of the Interfaith Alliance -- which includes the nation's top Episcopal bishop -- have signed a pledge to refrain from electioneering in their houses of worship.
"Political activity and political expressions are very important, but partisan politics are . . . . a death knell to the prophetic freedom that any religious organization must protect," said the Rev. Ed Bacon, rector of All Saints Episcopal Church in Pasadena, who signed the pledge.
All Saints survived a nearly two-year IRS investigation after former Rector George Regas spoke out against the Iraq war on the eve of the 2004 presidential election. Bacon repeatedly said the church did not engage in campaigning.
http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-me-pulpit25-2008sep25,0,6331764.story
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