TESTING THE FAITH
Political
snitches monitor sermons
Groups
threaten churches with loss
of tax-exempt status over activism
Posted: July 23, 2004
1:00 a.m. Eastern
By Joseph Farah
© 2004 WorldNetDaily.com
WASHINGTON –
At least two organizations are monitoring the content of Sunday sermons by
U.S. pastors and threatening to report churches to the Internal Revenue Service
if they hear political messages they deem inappropriate under federal
guidelines on tax-exempt status.
Earlier this week, Americans United for Separation of
Church and State, headed by Barry Lynn, filed a complaint with the IRS
against Ronnie Floyd, pastor of the First Baptist Church of Springdale, Ark., accusing
him of preaching a sermon promoting President Bush's re-election July 4.
The complaint challenges the
church's tax-exempt status as a religious organization.
Lynn's letter to the IRS reads, in
part: "The pastor's description of the candidates' stands and their
personal religious beliefs was obviously aimed at encouraging congregants to
cast ballots for Bush. The church is known for its stands on social issues and
its opposition to legal abortion and gay rights. By lauding Bush's stands on
these and other issues and attacking (Sen. John) Kerry's, Floyd was plainly
telling his congregation to be sure to vote for Bush.
"I have enclosed a videotape
that includes the entire sermon as well as a partial transcript. About 45
minutes into the message, Floyd begins to discuss the differences between Bush
and Kerry. Please note that even the imagery employed by the church is designed
to promote Bush. A huge photo of Bush is projected onto a screen that shows the
president next to an American flag. By contrast, small photos of Kerry are used
that show him as one person in a larger crowd. In addition, Bush is shown
signing a ban on late-term abortions, an act most church members will laud,
while Kerry is shown as one of a group of senators who opposed a law banning
same-sex marriage, a stand most church members will likely oppose."
Organizations granted tax-free
status under federal law "may not participate at all in campaign activity
for or against political candidates," according to published IRS
guidelines.
According to IRS regulations,
tax-exempt organizations "are absolutely prohibited from directly or
indirectly participating in, or intervening in, any political campaign on
behalf of, or in opposition to, any candidate for elective public office.
Contributions to political campaign funds or public statements of position,
verbal or written, made on behalf of the organization in favor of or in
opposition to any candidate for public office clearly violate the prohibition
against political campaign activity. Violation of this prohibition may result
in denial or revocation of tax-exempt status and the imposition of certain
excise tax."
The guidelines add: "The
political campaign activity prohibition is not intended to restrict free
expression on political matters by leaders of organizations speaking for
themselves, as individuals. Nor are leaders prohibited from speaking about
important issues of public policy. However, for their organizations to remain
tax-exempt under section 501(c)(3), leaders cannot make partisan comments in
official organization publications or at official functions."
Churches may invite candidates to
speak to the congregation during an election, as long as all candidates are
afforded an equal opportunity to speak, according to the guidelines.
A church spokesman denies the
pastor crossed the line, saying the pastor never told the church body how to
vote.
But Americans United for Separation
of Church and State is not the only organization looking to pick a fight with
pastors who get too political this year.
In Kansas, monitors from the Mainstream Coalition are being
accused of creating a "chilling effect" on the sermons in that
state's churches.
Last month, the Mainstream
Coalition announced it would send volunteers into area churches to see whether
pastors were abiding by federal laws governing political activity by non-profit
institutions.
While the group maintains it is
non-partisan and objects across the board to all kinds of politicking in the
pews, the organization's website shows the Mainstream Coalition has a strong
political agenda of its own. Policy statements posted include the following:
Some might question just how
mainstream those positions are. Would such a group, for instance, object to the
use of churches to promote politicians who support such an agenda?
Currently, Mainstream has about 100
volunteers monitoring churches mostly in the Kansas City suburbs.
Americans United, meanwhile, filed
another complaint this month with the IRS against the Rev. Jerry Falwell over a
column endorsing President Bush on his ministries'
website. Falwell, who also
writes a column for WND, said the group was waging a
"scare-the-churches campaign."
Falwell told NBC News: “I do
believe that pastors, religious leaders, men of God, women of God may in fact
voice their personal opinions, as I often do, but only as private
citizens."
In response, Lynn, formerly of the
American Civil Liberties Union, told NBC News: "Falwell is playing a shell
game that wouldn’t work in a backwoods carnival. It’s all about electing George
Bush and using the church to do it."
The driving force behind the
campaign in Kansas is the debate over same-sex marriage. In May, the Kansas
House rejected a proposed amendment to the state constitution to ban same-sex
marriage. Dozens of pastors joined a statewide effort to register 100,000 new
voters and elect sympathetic candidates.
Mainstream's executive director,
Caroline McKnight, said her organization was only trying to make sure that
churches follow federal law.
According to IRS guidelines,
churches cannot endorse individual candidates, and their pastors cannot use the
pulpit or church newsletters to do so. The group has not yet filed any
complaints, McKnight said.
But churches can compile voters'
guides – though such guides are supposed to be unbiased. Pastors can preach on
issues and, as individuals, endorse candidates.
McKnight said the IRS did not have
the resources to monitor churches' activities, as an agency official confirmed
during a seminar last week on political activity by nonprofit groups.
On Wednesday, a group called the Christian Seniors Association sent a letter to U.S. Attorney Gen. John Ashcroft and the head of the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division asking to have federal agents sent to the Kansas City area to stop the harassment of churches by Mainstream
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