Is it legal to have a campaign speech at church?

[duncang]

I thought candidates could go to a church but doing a political speech or the church showing support could affect it's tax exempt status?


Edit to add:
If it can affect it I'm sure the bishop didn't think about that. But they may end up being more debris in dipshit donnie's wake.

[forest444]

1. Praise the Lawd! (and pass the loot)

Legal or not, the political speech guidelines for churches and tax-exempt NGOs in general (except African-American ones) are almost never enforced.

[blogslut]

2. It's not a church.

It is a venue Cheeto Jesus rented, adjacent to a church.

ADD: He will make a speech at the rented venue. He will attend a church service but will not speak.

[duncang]

3. The one to today was refered to as a church and as far as I know wasn't rented.

I don't think the church really thought about it. But dipshit's campaign should know the law on this. But evidently doesn't care.

[blogslut]

5. It is a meeting of church members at which he spoke.

As I said above. He spoke at the rented venue. He then attended a service.

https://twitter.com/Bakari_Sellers/status/772072759673356288

[duncang]

6. Okay, trying to figure this out

The Bishop had a sermon at the churches rented venue? The bishop had his sermon first then the speech came. So I guess that's what is confusing me. I guess that's what I get for listening to media. They made it sound like it was a church function. Not a paid media event.

[blogslut]

7. I apologize

There are several reports and changes over the days. I did not see it but Cheeto Jesus apparently did speak during the church service but from what I've read, it was not a political speech. Shady but not illegal.

http://www.freep.com/story/news/politics/2016/09/03/protesters-greet-donald-trump-he-arrives-detroit-church/89768582/

The Orange man will/has also taped an interview with Bishop Jackson's teevee network.

Just keep in mind the lazy media and how, for right-wingers especially, it is necessary to paint this photo op as an act of grace upon hallowed ground and a direct endorsement from god. They're going to conflate the word "church" with that man all weekend.

[duncang]

9. I watched it.

And to me it was a campaign speech more then anything else. The bishop went over and talked to dipshit then requested a podium be set up for him. Dipshit read off a prepared speech. There was a scripture reading from him toward the last. But the rest was pretty much a toned down stump speech. I'd have to read the transcript in whole to really pin down more on what I heard that seemed nothing more then a campaign speech though.

Really even the interview if the network has exempt status could affect it. But to early to say until that is released. I'll let greater minds figure that out.

[demmiblue]

8. That person is mixing up Detroit with Philadelphia.

Whoops, saw your further comment.

[blogslut]

10. Thank you!

My head is spinning because of life stuff and trying to pin down the ridiculousness of the bad man with the bad hair is difficult.

[LuvNewcastle]

4. If it's legal, it shouldn't be.

Still, candidates routinely speak at some churches and a lot of clergy talk in their sermons about who to vote for. I doubt anything will ever be done about it though. It's a very controversial subject, and most politicians are afraid of being called an atheist or a satanist or whatever and thus avoid saying anything about it.

[duncang]

11. I can't remember

ever hearing a stump speech. I've seen candidates go to different churches, temples, or mosques. I've seen them say scriptures then sit down. Just don't ever remember someone going this far. This is a really strange election.

[LuvNewcastle]

13. My dad was a Baptist minister.

He was a big fan of Jerry Falwell, and we had to watch his sermons on tv every Sunday morning. Falwell used to talk about specific candidates during the church services, and he practically endorsed certain candidates from the pulpit and denounced others. My dad would have certain candidates from local elections speak at his church. Their opponents weren't asked to come.

This sort of thing has been going on for decades in many fundamentalist evangelical churches, and very little is said about it. What's interesting is that these white fundamentalists who have radical RW politicians speak at their churches are usually the first to denounce Democrats who speak at black churches.

All of it is disgusting to me. Looking through history, I haven't found too much good come from the intermingling of religion and state. Mixing the two generally leads to more corruption in both.

[lunatica]

12. Historically Black churches have been the community meeting places

Black people didn't have Town Halls or Civic Centers or a government base or voting rights. All the energy that would have gone into any kind of community activity was dealt with in the church. It's where MLK's equal rights movement started.

[Retrograde]

14. Some churches rent space for secular events

Generally an adjacent hall or meeting room, rarely the sanctuary itself.

I belong to a tiny non-profit organization that uses a church activity room for some events. They kindly let us have the space for free if we're using it for our charitable outreach programs, but charge us if we're using it for a secular activity - which I think is reasonable.

Churches can engage is certain forms of political activity. They can (AFAIK) hold voter registration drives and organize GOTV activities as long as they don't support specific candidates.

[GulfCoast66]

15. Thanks to the first amendment

It is legal to speak anywhere. Criminal law can play no role in it.

Now if a church as an entity comes out in support of a particular candidate, it may put their tax exempt status at risk. A church can, and many do, have politicians speak in the pulpit. Nothing wrong with it.

And speech is never illegal except for a very narrowly defined hate speech exemption.

[former9thward]

16. Yes, its legal.

Its how Obama and many others got their start. Obama did the south side of Chicago church circuit in order to run for state Senate.

[lindysalsagal]

17. Yes, but it's not legal to hold religious services in a community space.

I would, however, like to see the taxes paid when religious houses are used for civic influence.

That's not going to happen.