THE STORY goes that Lyndon Johnson was so incensed(非常愤怒的) that some non-profit groups(非营利组织) had backed his opponent in a 1954 Senate primary election that he proposed a change to the tax code to prohibit such groups from endorsing(支持，认可) or opposing political candidates. Today the Johnson Amendment means that churches can lose their non-profit status (and be forced to pay taxes) if clergy engage in political advocacy from the pulpit. In practice it is widely flouted(被公然无视). Back in 2016 Donald Trump vowed to “totally [knock] out” the amendment, which he has so far failed to do.
故事是这样的：1954年，林登·约翰逊在参议院初选中因一些非营利组织支持他的对手而大为光火，于是提议修改税法，禁止这些组织支持或反对政治候选人。如今，约翰逊修正案意味着，如果神职人员从讲坛上参与政治宣传，教会可能会失去非营利地位（并被迫纳税）。实际上，这项修正案被广泛无视。早在2016年，唐纳德·特朗普就发誓要“完全废除”该修正案，但迄今未能做到。
Yet surveys of churchgoers suggest that America’s clergy(神职人员) regularly do engage in(参与，从事) political advocacy. Despite this there has been little research into the content of such speech, or how common it is. Sermons have always been hard to study in a systematic way: they take place behind closed doors; congregants may self-censor(自我审查) when surveyed; and texts can be edited before being published.
然而，对教堂信徒的调查显示，美国神职人员确实经常参与政治宣传。尽管如此，对这类演讲的内容或其普遍程度的研究却很少。布道一直很难进行系统研究：它们发生在闭门之后；会众在接受调查时可能会自我审查；而且文稿在发表前可能被编辑过。
Since 2020, though, evangelical(福音派的) pastors have been live-streaming(直播) their sermons and posting the recordings online, giving researchers lots to study. Electioneering(竞选拉票活动) happens across denominations(教派): black churches, for example, regularly endorse and raise funds for Democrats. But no other church has documented itself in this way. Beyond the question of access, evangelical churches are worth studying in their own right(凭自身条件). They are decentralised(去中心化的), meaning pastors are freer than Catholic priests or Mormon bishops to say what they please. And no other religious group has mobilised(动员起来) quite so enthusiastically around President Trump.
不过，自2020年以来，福音派牧师一直直播他们的布道并上传录音，为研究人员提供了大量研究素材。竞选拉票活动在各个教派中都有发生：例如，黑人教会经常为民主党人背书和筹款。但没有其他教会像这样记录自己。除了可及性问题，福音派教会本身也值得研究。它们是去中心化的，这意味着牧师比天主教神父或摩门教主教更自由地说想说的话。而且，没有其他宗教团体如此热情地围绕特朗普总统动员起来。