I’ve known for quite some time now that the Religious Right is very active in politics. Anyone who lives in the US and does not realize this is either living in a cave, or a server room. (This is not a joke, as anyone who works for a Fortune 500 IT company can testify.) Usually, I have no problem with people of whatever religious stripe to become active in politics. The line in the sand that is crossed repeatedly, and which gets my dander up, is when they then use political power in order to silence others. Today, this is being done through the auspices of the IRS.
From the article:
Stepping up its probe of allegedly improper campaigning by churches, the Internal Revenue Service on Friday ordered a liberal Pasadena parish to turn over all the documents and e-mails it produced during the 2004 election year with references to political candidates.
For those of you who do not pay much attention to the tax code as it applies to non-profits, an organization that has the status of a 501(3)(c) Non-Profit organization can only remain as such as long as the organization refrains from politics. This includes endorsements of politicians, Political Action Groups, and so forth. However, if you read the news on a daily basis, there is almost continual support among certain far right groups such as Focus on the Family and others for GOP candidates, positions, and programs. This includes “Voter Guides” on prospective candidates, usually with erroneous or outright false information on them, designed to depict any Democratic Challenger in the most negative light possible.
This is nothing new. This has been going on since the formation of the Moral Majority back in the ’70’s. The problem is compounded today with the usurpation of power in the Executive branch, thanks to proponents of the ‘Unitary Executive‘ theory of government that is guaranteed to make our Founding Fathers roll over in their graves. Combined campaigning for GOP candidates within the auspices of a church, the funneling of currency to Faith Based Organizations that only support George W. Bush, and now the attack on those churches that have taken an anti-war stance bodes ill for the future of this Republic.
To combine it all into a nutshell- only those organizations that support policies that are in opposition to this administration are being investigated. Those non-profit organizations that continually flout the tax code in the area of expected behavior of a non-profit, tax exempt organization that support the administration are ignored. For crying out loud, the whole reason why the church is under investigation is because of a sermon about Christian values of peace!
Sound familiar? Remember Pastor Chan Chandler? This is the pastor that told his Democratic leaning members of his congregation that voting for John Kerry was a sin, and that they should leave his church. Remember the fiasco between Karl Rove and James Dobson? If a tax-exempt organization is supposed to refrain from endorsing candidates, then why is the GOP consulting far right wing groups before nominating a person?
This continuation of events will only lead to tyranny, for religious people of all flavors.
The Cathedral Arctic 
Tax the churches. Let God pay the national debt!
Comment by J — September 19, 2006 @ 5:32 pm
Actually, I think that would not be that bad of an idea. If a church wants to become active in the political sphere, then let them pay taxes.
Comment by inaeth — September 19, 2006 @ 6:42 pm
@inaeth — very interesting post! I gotta nitpick though, it’s actually 501(c)(3) 😉
-olly
Comment by ollysk2 — September 21, 2006 @ 3:39 pm
Not to nit-pick either, but you might revisit your understanding of both the IRS code regarding 501(c)(3) organizations as well as the role and purpose of such organizations and pastors listed in your post.
“Political activities and legislative activities are two different things and are subject to two different sets of rules. The rules depend on the type of tax-exempt organization, the type of activity (political or legislative) at issue, the scope or amount of the activity conducted, and the consequences of exceeding the given set of limitations.
In general, no organization may qualify for section 501(c)(3) status if a substantial part of its activities is attempting to influence legislation (commonly known as lobbying). A 501(c)(3) organization may engage in some lobbying, but too much lobbying activity risks loss of tax-exempt status.
Organizations may, however, involve themselves in issues of public policy without the activity being considered as lobbying. For example, organizations may conduct educational meetings, prepare and distribute educational materials, or otherwise consider public policy issues in an educational manner without jeopardizing their tax-exempt status.”
This is not to say that there are not organizations out there who bend this policy as far as they can….but I would challenge that they all dont lean to the right either.
Comment by a2jbigdaddy — September 21, 2006 @ 4:06 pm
You caught me! That supid dyslexia of mine… 🙂
The point of the article is that this church had, as far as I can tell from the story, only made one sermon on the values of peace, and the IRS is stepping in at the behest of the Bush administration to audit them with the goal of taking away their tax exempt status. Now, contrast that with a group like Focus on the Family, where over half of their budgetary concerns are diverted to changing, influencing, approving or disapproving candidates, policies, and programs, much like a political lobbyist organization.
Comment by inaeth — September 22, 2006 @ 12:40 pm