A section from the clip called Getting Close to the Line (see links below) gets the most audience reaction. Staver first tells preachers how they can signal their flock from the pulpit, for example, by saying: "I'm going to go to the polls and vote my Biblical conviction ....and I urge you to do it, as well." They can then pass out voter guides, rating the candidates on those Biblical convictions. They can even say, Staver says, "I'm going to vote for candidate A. I'm not going to say what the church's position is."

The IRS might say you’ve gotten to close to the line. … If you get too close to the line … it doesn’t have any consequence … If you got close to the line and there were a consequence, hypothetically, I would rather answer to God almighty … than to some little bureaucrat who wants to send me a letter because they got a call from Barry Lynn. (APPLAUSE.) I think it’s no question. So in other words, you can go quite close to the line, without having any problems. (emphasis added)

Staver tells his audience in The Only Church to Lose Its Exemption (see link below) that the consequence for going too far is that they will get a letter from the IRS. But it will come long after the election, he points out, and so won't have a practical impact. The response is "easily resolved," he says, by merely saying it won't happen again. "The bottom line is that there is nothing to fear if you step on a landmine knowingly or intentionally."

And, he says, churches can operate perfectly fine without tax-exempt status, and so even in the unlikely case that the status is stripped, the recriminations are slim. "From a church's perspective, there is nothing to fear. All of this is overblown," he says in Church's Loss of Tax Exemption. (see link below)

But voting on Religious Right values, especially in opposition to abortion and gay marriage -- "noncompromisable principles" -- is incredibly important, and, apparently, can't be overblown enough. Without voting on them, the uncompromisable principles are hollow values and an affront to God. In The Sanctity of Human Life, (link below) Staver says, "If you push one button (at a voting booth) and you could save the life of a child. and you push the other, you can destroy a child."

In Who is Actually A Candidate (link below) Staver moves to issue advocacy, with the intention of getting pastors to support his anti-gay marriage amendment. No church has ever lost its status or even had a letter from the IRS over lobbying, he says.

"We vote for people based on what the Bible tells us based on these uncompromisable principles," says Staver in his closing, The Love of Christ, (link below)

In Introducing (link below) Staver, who founded Liberty Counsel, explains why preachers must be active in electoral politics:"God created law for good -- if it is used properly. God creates law and Satan tries to use that for improper purposes." There is, he says, "a cultural battle" that must be won -- and it is for this reason that God put them on earth at this time.

Below are links to each of the GodTube postings, along with their titles and the descriptions provided when they were uploaded on January 29, 2008. In some cases, I've added Notes of my own in italics.

WHAT PASTORS CAN AND CANNOT DO POLITICALLY from Mat Staver, Liberty Counsel

Introducing Mat Staver
Mat Staver is a well accomplished attorney, as well as the Founder and a Chairman of Liberty Counsel. He specializes in appellate, free speech, and religious liberty constitutional laws. Mr. Staver is regarded as one of the premier constitutional litigators in the country and he conducts hundreds of media interviews each year. (Notes: Staver also speaks, and here describes the "cultural battle" taking place in the U.S. today.)

The Sanctity of Human Life As Christians, we have an obligation to get involved in both doing the right thing, and also telling others what the right thing to do from a biblical perspective is. It does not matter what the election it, we must take into consideration the beliefs of the candidates in regards to how they value the sanctity of life. (Notes: As a prelude to why voting is essential, Staver lays out the "uncompromisable issue" of opposition to abortion, and how it must factor into every vote from city clerk on up.)

The Background for Political Regulations From the founding of the United States, up until 1954, there were no regulations on churches in regards to politics. In 1954, Lyndon B. Johnson proposed an amendment to the IRS that would put regulations in place against non-profit organizations (which include churches) which would take away the non-profit status if they endorsed a political candidate, as a way to get back at a non-profit group that did not support his candidacy. (Notes: Staver begins to lay out his theme that the IRS regulations aren't the end-all, be-all.)

Tax Exempt Letter Ruling In order for a non-profit group (that is not a church) to become tax exempt, they must submit a request to the IRS, and obtain a letter ruling. With this letter ruling, the non-profit group does not have to pay taxes on the income of their group, and donations to the organization can be used as tax deductions. However, if the IRS decides that the rules to this have been broken, then the letter, and status, can be taken away. Yet if a church chooses to get a letter ruling, and they break the rules of it set by the IRS, the letter will be taken away, but the church will remain tax-exempt. (Notes: Staver begins a recurrent theme that churches do not have to apply for tax exempt status to operate. Jerry Falwell's church never had tax exempt status, he says.)

Non-Profit Loss of Tax Exemption There is a specific exemption in the IRS code that many people do not know about, stating that churches do not need to have a letter ruling in order to be tax-exempt. However, a non-profit group that is not a church, must have a letter ruling from the IRS, and if that letter ruling is taken away, the group will lose it's tax-exempt status. (Notes: He continues to argue that churches don't need to apply for nonprofit status, and that nothing would happen if a church were to lose it.)

Church’s Loss of Tax Exemption Unlike a normal non-profit, a church does not need to have a letter ruling in order to be a tax-exempt. If a church chose to blatantly break the rules and endorse a candidate, and the letter ruling was taken away (if the church had one), the church could re-gain their tax-exemption the next day automatically by not endorsing anyone. In order for a church to permanently lose its tax-exempt status, it would have to endorse a candidate every single day, which is impossible to do, as Mr. Staver points out. (Notes: Here is where Staver says that, from a church’s perspective there is nothing to fear. "All of this is overblown.")

The Only Church to Lose Its Letter There has only been one church since regulations concerning politics have been put in place to have it's letter ruling taken away. Although this church lost its letter ruling, the status of being tax exempt was not taken away, because a church will always have a tax-exemption without needing the letter ruling. (Notes: Staver says that if a church were to step over the line on a political issue, the only consequence is that it would get a letter from the IRS -- long after the election … and the issue is easily resolved.)

What You Can Do Certain things that will help candidates without actually endorsing them are permissible by the IRS, such as giving sermons on the importance of voting, and getting members of the church registered to vote in any upcoming elections (though they cannot be registered with a specific party). Pastors can also endorse or oppose candidates as an individual, and if you choose to do so, you can list the church that you are a pastor as, as long as you are sure to note that you are doing so as an individual and your title and church are there for identification purposes only. (Notes: Staver begins to lay out a wide range of political activities that pastors can take, even if they want to "toe the line" without crossing it. He describes here,or one of the next two, how Jerry Falwell conducts voter registration by making people stand if they are not registered and having ushers take them registration forms.)

What a Pastor Can and Can't do Politically Pastors can work on campaigns, contribute to the campaigns, and even endorse them, but they must do so as individuals and not bring the opinion of the church into play. During sermons, a pastor can even go so far as to preach about biblical issues, and discuss how the different candidates feel about the issues. As long as the endorsement does not come as the church's, and it is not stated that the church supports a certain candidate, there is nothing illegal. (Notes: In a really interesting section, Staver describes specifically how a pastor can influence people to vote in a particular way.)

Getting Close to the Line A pastor is able to tell the congregation what they are choosing to do as far as voting, without technically endorsing a candidate, they still have not broken any rules. As long as it remains that the candidate is never said to be that of the church, there is no problem. (Notes: As the title indicates, another interesting segment. Staver continues with specific actions that pastors can take without breaking rules, and adds again, that it doesn't matter much if they do break rules.)

Who is Actually a Candidate There are certain rules that will allow a church or any other non-profit group to either endorse or oppose a person without any regulations or rules. Mr. Staver tells us how to get around these rules when supporting a candidate. (Notes: Staver discusses how certain commentary, such as on a Supreme Court candidate, doesn't fall within electoral politics. He begins to describe issue advocacy, such as supporting his anti-gay marraige amendment.)

Legal Lobbying Mr. Staver tells a story about two non-profit groups and the responses that they received from the IRS when the said how much time they would spend lobbying for a candidate.

Time for Lobbying Mat Staver puts the rules for the amount of time that a non-profit or a church can lobby for a candidate into perspective. Although 5% of the total time that a group is functioning doesn't seem like much, it can actually be much more than one would think. (Notes: Staver describes how churches can pump up the total hours by counting volunteer time and preparatory time, so that the allowed five percent for lobbying can be higher.)

The Florida Marriage Protection Amendment Mr. Staver speaks about an amendment that he drafted and he has argued on behalf of before the courts to protect the sanctity of marriage. (Notes: Staver describes why God wants people to vote against gay marriage.)

The Love of Christ Liberty Counsel founder and chairman, Mat Staver, reminds us that we are called to model our lives after Christ, and this should play out in our political ideas also. We should not vote for people according to their party, but we should vote by the laws that God has put in front of us. (Notes: In a passionate wrap-up, Staver describes why they must vote for "uncompromisable principles" in the Bible -- to reclaim marriage for God's glory, and to save the lives created in his image from abortion. "We vote ... based on what the Bible tells us," he says.)

These clips offer a candid insider view of the religion-based campaign strategy in electoral politics. While the clips are posted -- highly recommended!

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