The ban on churches participating in the election process has nothing to do with the First Amendment or Jeffersonian principles of separation of church and state. It is based on a provision in the 1954 tax reform act prohibiting all tax-exempt organizations from supporting or opposing political candidates. It grew out of Lyndon Johnson’s effort to end McCarthyism and to win reelection to the Senate in 1954 and was specifically directed at right-wing organizations. Although he was particularly worried about specific organizations that opposed him (they weren’t churches), the way the act was worded caused the muzzling of churches, which up to that time had had freedom to speak out about elections.
http://www.alliancedefendingfreedom.org/content/docs/issues/church/Johnson-Amendment-History.pdf
http://www.firebuilders.org/JAmCEC.htm
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