September 27, 2008 - Thirty-three preachers across the country say they will defy tax laws Sunday by endorsing specific political candidates from the pulpit and preaching about their moral qualifications.

They are part of a campaign called Pulpit Freedom Sunday, organized by the Scottsdale, Arizona-based Alliance Defense Fund (ADF), a group of Christian lawyers who work for socially conservative causes.

The Pulpit Freedom Campaign has amassed the pastors to cooperate in a mass violation of a 1954 law that bars religious organizations and nonprofit groups that accept tax-deductible contributions from endorsing specific candidates. The ADF thinks the law is unconstitutional and lined up churches earlier this year willing to commit civil disobedience for a test case headed for the Supreme Court.

"This is something we've committed the resources to," said ADF senior legal counsel Erik Stanley. "What we want to do is have a reasonable constitutional addressing of the issues. For 54 years, the Internal Revenue Service has studiously avoided any court confrontation over their ability to regulate a pastor's sermon."

The Rev. Barry W. Lynn, executive director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, said his organization will monitor who takes part.

"Taking part in this reckless stunt is a one-way ticket to loss of tax exemption," he said "Pastors who violate the law can expect their churches to be reported to the IRS the first thing Monday morning."

The ADF says Mr. Lynn's group need not bother; the 33 pastors will send copies of their sermons to the IRS themselves. The ADF is not releasing the names of participating clergy for fear of hecklers.

Churches are not tax exempt because of some bargain they make with the government," Mr. Stanley said. "Being tax-exempt is part of freedom of religion; otherwise the government could tax churches out of existence. Now the government is telling churches you can be tax-exempt if you don't speak out on a certain topic."

The IRS released a statement saying it "will monitor the situation and take action as appropriate."