Story highlights The Johnson Amendment blocks churches from endorsing or opposing political candidates

Not all clergy are in favor of religious leaders using the pulpit to make political endorsements

Washington (CNN) Pastors across the country are taking to their pulpits this Sunday to protest an Internal Revenue Service law that they say limits their religious freedom.

Pulpit Freedom Sunday is an initiative started in 2008 by the Alliance Defending Freedom, a conservative Arizona-based non-profit focused on defending religious liberty.

"The ultimate goal of Pulpit Freedom Sunday is to restore a pastor's right to speak freely from the pulpit without fearing government censorship or punishment," said Erik Stanley, senior counsel at Alliance Defending Freedom. "The IRS currently holds the power to impose legal sanctions on a church for something its pastor preaches from the pulpit."

As a senator, Lyndon B. Johnson backed a change in the US tax code that blocked some tax-exempt organizations, including churches, from supporting or opposing political candidates.

"Until 1954, America's pastors had the right to speak freely they exercised that right responsibly," Stanley said. "Churches were not turned into political action committees and party bosses did not set up shop in the basement of churches. Instead, pastors spoke out as they believed their faith intersected with something that was happening in an election. Pastors should have the right to decide that issue for themselves."

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