Americans overwhelmingly think it's inappropriate for pastors to mix politics and preaching from the pulpit, a new report shows.
In the survey on religion and politics published last week by Nashville-based LifeWay Research, http://lifewayresearch.com/2016/09/08/skip-the-endorsements-in-church-say-most-americans/
79 percent of respondents said it would be inappropriate for preachers to endorse a candidate in church.
"Americans already argue about politics enough outside the church," the evangelical research firm's executive director, Scott McConnell, said in a statement. "They don’t want pastors bringing those arguments into worship."
Donald Trump has made it a part of his campaign platform that pastors ought to be able to voice their political preferences from the pulpit, and vows to repeal the 1954 Johnson Amendment. https://www.newsmax.com/Headline/Trump-Evangelicals-Church-Values/2016/09/09/id/747566/
Named for the conflict between then-Sen. Lyndon Johnson and a Texas nonprofit that opposed his re-election bid, the IRS rules bans all nonprofits, including churches, from active involvement in political campaigns.
According to LifeWay Research, 86 percent of Americans thought such endorsements were inappropriate in a 2008 survey.
But the new survey also found 52 percent of Americans don't think churches should lose their tax-exempt status for publicly endorsing candidates, while 42 recent think they should. In the earlier study, 52 percent said churches should be punished.
The survey's margin of error overall is plus or minus 3.6 percentage points.
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