The Internal Revenue Service announced on Monday that it is overturning a restraint on churches and other houses of worship that was supposed to keep them from endorsing candidates for political office.
The root of the ban extends back to 1954. Then-Sen. Lyndon Johnson of Texas was running for re-election and faced a primary challenge from a wealthy rancher and oilman.
A nonprofit conservative group published materials that recommended voters support Johnson’s challenger. In what many believed to be retribution, Johnson introduced an amendment to Section 501 (c)(3) of the IRS code, prohibiting organizations that are tax-exempt from trying to influence political campaigns.
Many took this as an attempt to muzzle preachers. But the measure was rarely, if ever, enforced.
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Many liberal preachers, both black and white, invited mostly Democratic candidates to their services close to elections, giving them tacit,