Liberty University

Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump reiterated his desire to change a federal law that prohibits houses of worship from endorsing candidates during his speech last night at the Republican National Convention (RNC).  

Trump said:

“At this moment, I would like to thank the evangelical community who have been so good to me and so supportive. You have so much to contribute to our politics, yet our laws prevent you from speaking your minds from your own pulpits.

Jerry Falwell Jr., the chancellor of Liberty University who along with his father spent years trying to infuse their narrow interpretation of the Bible into U.S. law, is now trying to argue that Jesus never intended to instruct politicians.

Really? Then what was that Moral Majority business all about?

Some far-right Christians have a hard time obeying the law. Among them is Religious Right attorney Matt Barber, who really dislikes the idea of church-state separation and particularly has a bone to pick with the Internal Revenue Code’s prohibition against pulpit politicking by houses of worship.

In a recent column, Barber spouted the tired, old line that “the words ‘separation of church and state’ are found nowhere in the U.S. Constitution….”

I sometimes help out with logistics when Americans United Executive Director Barry W. Lynn is traveling for a speech or a debate. I’m used to people asking me what hotel chains Barry prefers or what he likes to eat, but in September when Barry was debating Religious Right attorney Mat Staver at Liberty University, I got a question I hadn’t heard before: The folks at Liberty wanted to know if Barry or anyone traveling with him would be armed. The school had no objection to Barry or a member of his party carrying a concealed weapon, they just wanted to know beforehand.

The announcement that U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) will speak at Liberty University in Lynchburg, Va., Sept. 14 has left a lot of people scratching their heads. Has the world been turned upside down?

From Sanders’ perspective, the move makes sense. He’s seeking the Democratic presidential nomination, and it never really hurts a candidate to go into the lion’s den and stare down the opposition. Many supporters will see that as an act of political courage; you can almost hear them holler, “Give ‘em hell, Bernie!”

Last week, Americans United wrote to John Koskinen, commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service, and told him that it’s high time he began enforcing the law prohibiting partisan politicking by houses of worship and other tax-exempt entities.

Two memorable speeches were delivered in the early 1980s on separation of church and state. The first was by U.S. Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.) and was given – at all places – before an audience at Liberty University in Lynchburg, Va.