Rutten chimes in

LAT columnist Tim Rutten agrees with LAT editors about "the separation of church and state" and fleshes out the debate a little more in a column this morning. Evangelical Protestant preachers in 22 states will participate in a "pulpit initiative" this weekend which they intend will test the validity of what Rutten says is a 54-year old provision of the Internal Revenue Code that bans "political endorsements by tax-exempt organizations, including churches." 

The preachers and their lawyers evidently believe either that the ban is unconstitutional or that it doesn't require what Rutten and the LAT think it does. We'll see. Try it in a court of law and see what the courts think. The issue ought to be settled one way or the other.