Last Sunday, 33 pastors in 22 states intentionally challenged the government by injecting political endorsements into their sermons.

The event was billed “Pulpit Freedom Sunday” by the Alliance Defense Fund, a conservative, Arizona-based legal group that organized the protest in an effort to get the law regarding tax-exempt organizations and political activism overturned, reported the Associated Press.

The pastors all made specific recommendations from their pulpits about who they believed their congregations should vote for in the November presidential elections.

All charitable organizations under Internal Revenue Service code 501(c)(3) are not allowed to endorse any specific political candidate at the risk of losing their tax-exempt status.

ADF claims that this code is a violation of these organizations’ First Amendment rights.

“The purpose of the Pulpit Initiative is to restore the right of pastors to speak freely from the pulpit without fear of punishment by the government for doing what churches do: speak on any number of cultural and societal issues from a biblical perspective,” read a statement on their web site.

Nick Damonte, a senior at Biola, who is currently an intern at Woodbridge Community Church, said congregations should be the judge, not the government.

“Pastors can say what they think, but they need to leave it up to the congregation,” he said.

On Monday morning, Americans United for Separation of Church and State filed a complaint with the IRS regarding the content of six of the pastors’ messages on Sunday.

One of the churches that the AU filed a complaint against was First Southern Baptist Church in Buena Park, Calif.

“I am angry because the government and the IRS and some Christians have taken away the rights of pastors. I have a right to endorse anybody I doggone well please. And if they don’t like that, too bad,” said the Rev. Wiley Drake, minister of the church.

Garry DeWeese, professor of philosophy of religion and ethics at Biola and former pastor of 14 years, said the pastors were out of line.

DeWeese pointed out that while organizations like churches are exempt from taxes, they still share the benefits of what taxes pay for like police and fire departments. He said that this does not mean that churches and other non-profit organizations are completely free from government rules and regulations.

“With the exemption comes the right of society to impose certain requirements,” he said. “Donations to [charitable] corporations are tax deductible, while donations to political parties are not. That seems to me to be a fair quid pro quos.”

DeWeese added that churches can and should address politics as “part of the educational function of the church,” but that endorsing specific candidates goes against the tax law.

The IRS has declined to comment, other than they would “take action as appropriate,” reported the Washington Times.