A conservative legal group’s effort to encourage pastors to preach about election candidates to test federal tax law is drawing plenty of critical questions.

According to The Wall Street Journal, the Alliance Defense Fund, hopes a court case will result from this defiance of tax rules, which bar churches from engaging in partisan politics, and that the restrictions will be struck down by the courts.

Not everybody agrees the prohibitions on politicking need to be challenged.

“Responsible ministers understand that the First Amendment does as much or more to protect their congregations than it does to muffle their voice,” writes Daniel Schultz, a minister in the United Church of Christ, on his blog Street Prophets.

Tom Durso, author of the 501c3Files, is not as sure.

“Supporters of the law say it helps to ensure separation of church and state, and while I am a hearty advocate of that vital split, in this case it seems to me to bump up against free-speech concerns. I have to confess I find the linkage between political engagement and tax status pretty damn fuzzy; then again, if you can’t make it clear whom you’re supporting through innuendo and coded speech that falls well within the guidelines, maybe you shouldn’t be in the business of changing hearts and minds to begin with,” he writes.

The ultimate outcome of any court battle could affect more than churches and religious groups, writes Tim Mooney on his Nonprofit Law Blog.

“Would the current Supreme Court turn back the decades-old ban on electioneering by churches? Would there be an equal protection problem if this was not also extended to other public charities? These and other questions might be answered in the next couple of years,” he says.

What do you think of the Alliance Defense Fund’s move? Should pastors be allowed to endorse a political candidate from the pulpit?