Trump’s I.R.S. has decided that it will no longer prohibit churches from making political endorsements.
This is a terrible idea. Houses of worship should be exactly that: houses of worship. Worship of God. Worship of the enduring, eternal principles of the Ten Commandments or Fred’s Eight Rules for Life or whatever it is your religious kink is. (Ok, I could have phrased that better.) But the point is: it’s supposed to be elevating, not down and dirty like politics. Ugh.
And I’m somewhat conflicted because typically I am a free speech absolutist. I firmly believe you should talk, and talk, and talk. Never censor people. Never shout them down. Let ’em talk! Usually if you let a liberal talk long enough, they’ll reveal themselves and make your argument for you. Which typically results in curse words and stomping off. So restricting speech? It’s rare to find me supporting any kinds of rules on speech. Extremely rare. But here we are.
I suppose the toothpaste has sort of left the tube already on this but that’s still no reason to do it. I’m spiritually homeless; a lapsed Catholic looking for a new home to worship so I’ve been paying attention to different faiths out there hoping something would click with me, but alas, so many churches have already become so political they are losing congregation by the dozen and this will not help; not me, not them.
“But Annie, if churches want to lose parishioners they should be free to do so, that is if you really are a free speech absolutist.” And “Isn’t it better to know who they support?”
See what I mean? It’s a mess. But I still cannot get behind this. It will absolutely prove fatal to any number of congregations. What will happen over the course of time when the person in the pulpit keeps endorsing candidates the congregation doesn’t like? I can easily see “Oh, they endorsed Hillary not Bernie. Guess this church isn’t for me.” I mean… What. A. Mess.
I once heard Glenn Beck (a Mormon) describe his weekly visits to church as a kind of spiritual E.R. That he regards it as a kind of hospital of healing from the trials of the worldly word every week and I really liked that. That’s a healthy way of looking at church, it seems to me. As a place of spiritual healing, spiritual nourishment. How nourishing can it be to hear a political diatribe from the pulpit? Just no. No.
This is a terrible idea. Mark this: you will see churches fragment and fold up all over this country. It’s a terrible, terrible idea and Trump is 1000% wrong on this. A destructive, horrible idea.