Freedom to Preach

          In Charles Blain's article "Freedom to Preach", Blain describes how the city of Houston is attempting to subpoena many local religious leaders for speaking out against a new city ordinance. The author argues that the city does not have any standing to subpoena the clergymen, as this would be a violation of their first amendment rights. He claims that the pastors were speaking out on moral grounds, which is allowed by the church's tax-exempt state. However, the city argues that the pastors "used their pulpit to do political organizing".
          The author is speaking to his fellow Christian conservatives. He believes that their rights, especially free speech, are being restricted, specifically in Texas. He cites how Tea Party groups were also targeted by the IRS in 2010. What he fails to say, however, is that Texas is perhaps the most Christian conservative state in the Union. With some urban exceptions, the vast majority of Texas is Christian Conservative, and you cannot get elected to office without wholeheartedly endorsing those same views. Their freedoms are not being restricted in any way. In fact, I would argue that they attempting to force their views on the rest of Texas, and getting away with it. The author is a credible source, having an undergraduate degree in Political Science which makes his claims all the more incredulous.
          The author may be correct in saying that the city has a hard case to make, but many of his reasonings and other assertions appear just as shaky. A church may speak on political issues based on moral grounds, but they cannot organize the congregation for political purposes. The city will have a hard time proving that the pastors were attempting to organize politically, but the church has been known to push the limits of what they can and cannot say from the pulpit. Since most of the members of both the national and local legislatures are Christian, I don't foresee any changes being made to restrict or better monitor what pastors say.