A Call for Free and Unfettered Pulpits
Protesting actions by the Internal Revenue Service that threaten Religious Freedom and Freedom of Speech, the presidents of Union Theological Seminary and Andover Newton Theological School have called on colleagues in the church and the academy to speak out for free and unfettered pulpits.
Joseph C. Hough, Jr., President, Union Theological Seminary, New York City, and Nick Carter, President, Andover Newton Theological School, Newton Centre, Massachusetts, issued the following statement on November 11, 2005.
All Saints Episcopal Church in Pasadena, California has been subjected to an extensive examination by the Internal Revenue Service, prompted by a sermon preached at All Saints just prior to the 2004 national election. In that sermon, Dr. George Regas, former rector of the Church, spoke out against the war. At no point in his sermon did he instruct the congregation to vote for either candidate. Instead, he challenged both candidates to reexamine their support for the preemptive war in Iraq in light of Christian teaching.
As a result of the audit, the IRS threatened to revoke the non-profit status of All Saints Church. After negotiations, they relented provided that the Church would confess its wrongdoing and promise not to repeat the “offense.”
In their efforts to intimidate congregations like All Saints, the IRS has dangerously overstepped the boundary of the constitutional guarantees for the freedom of religion and the freedom of speech. Throughout the history of this country, indeed the history of humanity, preachers of every faith have answered their prophetic responsibility to call congregations to a faith-filled understanding of their times. It is from these courageous pulpits that a portion of the fabric of our nation was sewn. Religious leaders like William Penn, Jonathan Mayhew, Roger Williams, Anne Hutchinson, Mary Dyer, Henry Melchior Muhlenberg, John Witherspoon, Sojourner Truth, Antoinette Brown Blackwell, Theodore Weld, Martin Luther King, Jr., William Sloane Coffin and countless others have held the plumb line of faith to our nation. The actions of the IRS threaten to unravel these defining moments and dismantle a vital portion of the loom upon which our national conscience and character is woven.
The First Amendment to the Constitution guarantees that: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof, or abridging the freedom of speech or of the press, or the right of the people peaceably to assemble and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.”
The limitations of the first amendment are on the government, not on the church.
We unequivocally condemn the blatantly political actions of the IRS and call upon all persons of faith to join us in our demand that the pulpits of this nation remain free and unfettered.
Statement prepared by
Nick Carter, President, Andover Newton Theological School, Newton Centre, MA
Joe Hough, President, Union Theological Seminary, New York, NY
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