Read a background page about churches, charities and politics on the Internal Revenue Service website.

The fall 2008 issue of Reflections, the magazine of Yale Divinity School, is titled “Who Is My Neighbor?” and is dedicated to the issue of immigration. It has a range of articles on the topic from a variety of religious perspectives.

Read a Nov. 4, 2012, NBCNews.com article that found that 1,600 pastors across the U.S. violated the long-standing ban on political endorsement by churches in October of 2012.

Read a Jan. 14, 2008, Las Vegas Review-Journal article about a pastor’s backing of Obama during a worship service at the Pentecostal Temple Church of God in Christ. The comments prompted Americans United for Separation of Church and State to request an IRS investigation of the church.

Read a Jan. 20, 2008, Associated Press story about Houston megachurch pastor Kirbyjon Caldwell’s endorsement of Obama. The story appeared in the Houston Chronicle.

Mehran Tamadonfar is an associate professor and chairman of the political science department at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. One of his areas of study is Islam and politics in the Middle East and North Africa.

Read a Feb. 14, 2008, Los Angeles Times story about the IRS examining a California clergyman’s use of church letterhead to endorse Huckabee. According to the article, when it became public that Americans United for Separation of Church and State was asking the IRS to investigate, the pastor, Wiley S. Drake, encouraged supporters to pray […]

Mark LeVine is a professor of history at the University of California, Irvine, where he specializes in the Middle East. He has written widely about Islam and politics, including on the subjects of Islam in the public square and Islam and Middle Eastern politics.

Read a Nov. 2, 2012 PBS article about one church leaders’ fight against the IRS’ prohibition of religious endorsement of political candidates.