And, for the record, it wasn’t a mullet.

As a semi–sorta-quasi white guy who has spent most of his life attending otherwise ‘black’ churches (eat your heart out; I actually saw the verrrry young MLK in a tent in the State-Thomas (then black) area.

First, I am not altogether comfortable lumping the ‘black churches’ together as though they are a monolithic pillar. Too, as I have been at any so-called ‘mega churches’ black and other, I have found it disturbing how the overtly partisan issues have become more frequently and openly preached from the pulpit.

The ‘black churches’ have always been the origin and center of political gravity in American African-American culture. But there has become in churches everywhere…and certainly religious programming on-the air with Daystar and CBN etc….a blurring of the line that is no longer at all politically subtle. Many times, in fact, when I attend churches anywhere, I feel like I am at some point at a political event.

It is in the best interest of all religious institutions to curtail being blatant about political issues and voting directives because it is quite risky from the standpoint of tax-exempt status. And I say that as a longtime follower of the culture and the faith. There are lines being routinely crossed that are an accident waiting to happen ultimately before the Supreme Court that might re-define the role of churches in general and tax-exempt status of church-owned properties.