Editorial: Keep pulpits politics-free

In a March poll commissioned by Independent Sector, a national group of nonprofits, foundations and corporations, 72 percent of voters favored keeping the Johnson Amendment.

[...] political contributions aren't tax exempt, but allowing churches and other charities to support candidates would effectively let those donations to be funneled through them be tax free.

[...] churches are exempt from disclosure requirements, offering political donors a way around campaign finance regulations designed to inform the public about who is trying to influence elections.

[...] the rest of society picks up the tab for the taxes churches don't pay so, in effect, taxpayers would be subsidizing churches' political activity.

Political involvement is supposed to be incidental to their work, but the IRS has been so cowed by controversies over enforcement, particularly when it came to conservative nonprofits that have been cropping up across the political landscape, that these groups have been politicking with impunity, and we're all subsidizing it.