There's a movement afoot to "unmuzzle" religious leaders and allow them to directly speak to political issues from the pulpit. This is, understandably, causing some consternation on the left, coming on the heels of an election where with the help of an energized conservative/evangelical network, the Republican party beat the Democrats (across the board, though clearly with some dirty tricks too) on turnout.

However, I think this could be a good thing, as long as there are a few exceptions.

1) If Churches are allowed to retain their tax exemption and speak to political issues, there must be a secular equivalency created so that non-religious community and charitable organizations can enjoy the same freedom, or else the IRS definition of "church" itself must be expanded somewhat to accomodate secular communities of conscience.

2) Any Church (or secular community organization) which decides to take advantage of this new-found freedom must have more strict financial reporting requirements. We don't want our communities of concience to become political money-laundering operations, so greater financial transparency and due dilligence are a must. For those churches who don't see a need to bring politics to the pulpit, the more relaxed rules could remain in place.

In real terms, politicized preachers already give endorsements from the pulpit. Allowing it to happen openly and honestly is a winner for us. It's not going to boost turnout on the right or markedly increase the political power of already polticized churches. However, when you give individual pastors, ministers and priests the ability to speak freely from the pulpit you increase their political independence.

Currently, the hands-off relationship allows dedicated political groups -- closely tied to churches, but professionalized, tolerant of hipocrisy, and with cozy relationships to the party -- to more or less fix who the "annointed" candidates are for most spiritual communities. Allowing individual religious leaders to find their own way in the political landscape will sap the power of the moral majority. This will hasten to fracturing of the conservative coalition as individual churches more actively advance their own favorite candidates.

Lifting a ban on political speech from the pulpit would decentralize the political power of churches in America. It's not only the right thing to do, it's a winning strategy for progressives.