The I.R.S. lifted the ban on endorsements in houses of worship. That move could pose a challenge in a city that relishes religious diversity.
The I.R.S. lifted the ban on endorsements in houses of worship. That move could pose a challenge in a city that relishes religious diversity.
The I.R.S. lifted the ban on endorsements in houses of worship. That move could pose a challenge in a city that relishes religious diversity.
Good morning. It’s Thursday. Today we’ll look at the impact of an I.R.S. decision allowing houses of worship to endorse political candidates.
Houses of worship have for decades been barred from endorsing political candidates, but that prohibition is a thing of the past thanks to a decision this week by the Internal Revenue Service.
Now if a church or a synagogue endorses a candidate, the I.R.S. says it would view the matter as a private one, likening the backing by a pastor of a politician on a Sunday from the pulpit to “a family discussion concerning candidates.”
What this decision means for the country — and for the New York region — is not entirely clear.
“There are so many different ways it could play out,” said David Gibson, the director of the Center for Religion and Culture at Fordham University. “The separation of church and state was designed to protect churches as much as it was designed to protect the state in this country.”
New York City, to borrow a phrase from the writer Milan Kundera, is a place of maximum diversity in minimum space.