Who are these people kidding?   Congress is VOTING to ALLOW religious leaders endorse candidates?  It seems to me that in any non-“culturally captive” church,  any speaker will say anything they choose about how they see the political issues as they impact the welfare of society and/or a particular community.  There isn’t an issue of whether or not we are ALLOWED to do so.   The only place this is an issue is in Churches that believe that what they say has nothing to do with actual political issues,  or actual political decisions which directly impact some area of actual life.  Whether or not they are associated with a particular political platform is relevant to the point that there is a belief that the particular candidate endorsing a particular position will actually DO something when elected—- but that’s all we have from candidates going in – their word against the other — as on all other issues — we make the judgment based on our instincts and the amount of confidence we have in the real intentions of that candidate.   If a religious leader judges that one candidate has something important to contribute or something crucial to accomplish,  they have and always have,  where they are true to their calling,  endorse anybody they see fit,  and FROM THE PULPIT.

This is truly silly to debate.  I guess it isn’t for those to whom relgious conviction has nothing to do with what actually affects our society.

Mixing God and politics. Congress is voting on a bill to let religious leaders endorse candidates from the pulpit. The right can’t lose: If it fails, they’ll have a campaign issue to use against opponents in November. [Salon.com]