Sooner or later, everybody finds somebody who disagrees with their views on politics and religion.

The Lions Clubs International Purpose is designed in part to avoid confrontations along these lines. It reads in part:

To Provide a forum for the open discussion of all matters of public interest; provided, however, that partisan politics and sectarian religion shall not be debated by club members.

So what are the implications?

The Lions’ Purpose does not define the organization as apolitical. Certain political activities would be OK. A Lions Club could quite reasonably host a candidates’ debate during an election year. However, Lions Clubs should not, in their role as Lions, support a party or their individual candidates.