Politics, Taxes, and the Pulpit: Provocative First Amendment Conflicts

In Politics, Taxes, and the Pulpit: Provocative First Amendment Conflicts, Nina J. Crimm and Laurence H. Winer examine the conflicts of religion, politics, and taxes that occur when houses of worship engage in electoral political speech. The authors analyze the issues involved when federal tax subsidies are granted to non-profit houses of worship. These subsidies, granted on the condition that houses of worship refrain from political campaign speech, result in multi-faceted constitutional tensions engendered among the fundamental values embodied in the First Amendment: free speech and free press, the free exercise of religion, and the avoidance of government establishment of religion. Crimm and Winer also explore the history of taxation of houses of worship, and conclude by offering several feasible legislative proposals for reform of the tax provisions.