BUENA PARK, Calif., Sept. 25 (UPI) -- A group of U.S ministers said they would defy laws barring non-profits from campaigning from the pulpit, saying they hope to generate a test case.
Ministers from 22 states, including California, say they hope their actions violate the Internal Revenue Service's regulations against political speech and trigger IRS investigations, the Los Angeles Times reported Thursday.
An IRS investigation would allow the conservative Alliance Defense Fund to challenge the agency's rules against tax-exempt groups publicly supporting or opposing political candidates.
"I'm going to talk about the unbiblical stands that Barack Obama takes. Nobody who follows the Bible can vote for him," said the Rev. Wiley S. Drake of First Southern Baptist Church of Buena Park, Calif.
The IRS recently investigated -- then cleared -- Drake for endorsing former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee in his failed Republican presidential bid.
Drake and the other pastors who agreed to the initiative have been criticized by other clergy and advocates for the separation of church and state.
"The integrity of the religious community is at stake when religion and politics become entangled," said the Rev. Eric Williams of the North Congregational United Church of Christ in Columbus, Ohio.
