Minister: Death To My Tax Status Critics

Calif. Clergyman Condemns Those Who Complained To IRS Criticizing His Political Endorsement Of Huckabee

(AP)  A California minister who used church stationery and an Internet radio program to endorse former Gov. Mike Huckabee for president is asking his followers to pray for the deaths of those who filed a complaint against him with the IRS.

The Rev. Wiley S. Drake of the First Southern Baptist Church of Buena Park, Calif., called for "imprecatory prayer" targeting Barry W. Lynn, Joe Conn and Jeremy Leaming of Americans United for Separation of Church and State.

"The prayer does call for serious, serious punishment on people. But I didn't call for that, God did," said Drake, a native of Magnolia who completed a term in June as second vice president of the Southern Baptist Convention.

Huckabee is a Southern Baptist minister.

The Americans United for Separation of Church and State asked the IRS to investigate whether it was proper for Drake to endorse Huckabee. Churches that endorse candidates are subject to losing their tax-exempt status.

Drake said in a telephone interview Thursday that neither he nor the church violated the law and insisted he could use church stationery and the Internet program to "personally" endorse a political candidate. He said the Bible calls for imprecatory prayer when someone "attacks the church."

On his Internet show, in a news release on ChristianNewsWire, and in an e-mail to Americans United, Drake called on others to pray that the Americans United officials be punished.

He gave as examples of imprecatory prayer:

"Persecute them. ... Let them be put to shame and perish."

"Let his children be fatherless, and his wife a widow."

"Let his children be continually vagabonds, and beg."

Americans United, a nonpartisan group based in Washington, D.C., asked the Internal Revenue Service on Tuesday to investigate whether Drake violated federal law by endorsing the Republican candidate on church stationery Aug. 11 and on his Internet program Aug. 13.

In a letter to the IRS, the liberal group said the California church seemed to have "run afoul" of the tax law that bans political campaign involvement by nonprofit groups.

Nancy Mathis, a spokeswoman for the IRS, said Thursday the agency could not comment on matters regarding specific taxpayers. She also would not confirm whether the agency received the request.

Huckabee was campaigning out of state Thursday. Alice Stewart, a campaign spokeswoman, said the campaign did not coordinate with Drake on any of the material he's distributed regarding the Americans United complaint.

"We certainly don't condone the evil comments he's made," she said.

Lynn, executive director of Americans United and an ordained minister of the United Church of Christ, said in a telephone interview that the group had filed about 60 complaints with the IRS in the last 10 years. About half involved Republicans and the other half Democrats, he said.

"Many times, the candidates don't even know what's going on and repudiate it if it happens," Lynn said, adding that he had not spoken to Huckabee and didn't know if he was aware of the group's complaint.

Lynn said Americans United wasn't taking issue with Huckabee or his Iowa campaign manager, Eric Woolson, who appeared on Drake's radio show and promised to arrange an appearance by Huckabee at a later date.

Lynn said, "A prayer for death seems to be a little harsh just for trying to get the tax laws enforced equally and fairly."

Sing Oldham, a spokesman for the Southern Baptist Convention, said the group "exercises no ecclesiastical authority over any individual Baptist or any local church.

"Thus, any Baptist, as an individual, may make pronouncements which reflect his or her own thoughts," he said.

Oldham said the convention also has no record of having discussed or adopted any guidelines on imprecatory prayer. He said imprecatory prayer is mentioned in the Psalms when people called upon God to carry out punishment that they believed was God's to inflict.

[lvslotdoc]

God would never ordain that someone die, or be put to death over a tax issue. God''s stance on this issue is, "If you owe taxes, pay taxes." The tax exempt status of the churches was written by legislators, not God. If the legislators were to change the tax laws for churches as a whole, or an individual organization to where they have to pay taxes, God is not going to put anyone to death!

The lobbyists pushing for these reforms are probably in kahootz with the same small handful of godless individuals who pushed to have prayer and anything that teaches Christian morals out of public schools and government bodies. As far as I''m concerned, these individuals have dug their own graves. They won''t need any help from God getting into them.

[toldyouso21]

This other church and many like them are providing illegal sanctuary for illegal aliens, in direct violation of federal laws. Why doesn''''t somebody scream for their tax exempt staus to be pulled?
Posted by Klingon69 at 09:55 AM : Aug 20, 2007


I would agree that they should also lose their status except that is a slippery slope. Churches have always provided refuge to dissidents of the state, when they feel individuals are under persecution. This means refugees, when there are wars, and the Jews when there was a Holocaust, they do this, because they feel their higher calling demands they ignore man made law when a human life may be at stake.

In this case, I think they extrapolate the "life" to mean livelihood of this woman, but perhaps it is time to force a reckoning of some sort on Churches. If they wish to harbor pedophilic members , illegals and other fugitives from justice, at the very least they should be fined and the leaders charged with obstruction of justice, or remove their quasi, self determining , private state status and just go in and get those who break the law. Either way would fly in the face of centuries of churches sheltering people from unjust persecution, so our government is not yet prepared to go that route.

[toldyouso21]

Why do fanatics misquote scripture for there own ends. I believe the bible says give to Ceaser what is Ceasers and give to god what is gods that''''s what jesus spoke period case closed, Twisting things to fit your personal agenda has destroyed the very thing you believe that gives man hope.......
Posted by crzmeat at 05:51 PM : Aug 20, 2007


Render unto Cesaer what is Cesaer''s means to obey the law unless it conflicts with God''s law (which would mean obeying God''s law is rendering unto God) so there is no twisting. The fact is, that unless a law tells a Christian to go against the Commandments or what scripture says, Christians have no right to disobey the law. Besides reading a scripture, it is best if one understands the meaning of what is read.

Christians are to obey the laws of men unless they force them to commit a sin. Not endorsing a candidate is not a sin, so Christians have no basis for disobeying the laws of the land.

[kansas1946]

LOL. Death to the sinners?? Sounds like a jihad to me. Big whiner wants to break the rules and then not get punished. Everyone knows that tax-exempt organizations can not indorse candidates. If they want to indorse candidates, then they need to drop their tax-exempt status and indorse candidates. I think the day of tax-exempt status for churches needs to be looked at again anyway. Churches have become huge money making businesses and funnel a very small percentage of that money back into charitible foundataions. I think churches should have to meet a test. A certain percentage goes to truly charitible causes to get a tax-exempt status. A lot of hucksters just start churches for this very reason.

[Krazcarl]

Why do fanatics misquote scripture for there own ends. I believe the bible says give to Ceaser what is Ceasers and give to god what is gods that''s what jesus spoke period case closed, Twisting things to fit your personal agenda has destroyed the very thing you believe that gives man hope.......

[infidel_us]

Death to America and death to the infidels!!! Oh wait.....THAT''S ME! :)

[hwk_i67]

My question in all this is:

What is different about this guy''s message from those wanting Jihad in the Middle East? Or is it because he''s "one of us" and not "one of them" things I get so confused about?

Peace AND tolerance

[starleo146]

Posted by UnderMyBoot at 04:03 AM : Aug 20, 2007

You see, you know now why Rove and Bush and Cheney went after the Christian right. These preachers need to stay close to the Bible message and get out of the political message. You know it is a bias thought to begin with and they are just building a division in this country.

[klingon69]

I paid federal taxes for 20 years, as a federal (military) employee, in other words I paid part of my own salary. If I had to pay taxes, you can bet your ***** I think a bible-thumper should too.
Posted by NavyRetired2 at 11:09 AM : Aug 18, 2007

It''s odd, CBSNEWS won''t open a comment page on the illegal alien activist that has been living in a church for a year. Nobody''s calling for the loss of their tax-exempt status. All this minister did wrong is endorse a politician, albeit with church stationary and then try to scare these dissenters with death by prayer.
This other church and many like them are providing illegal sanctuary for illegal aliens, in direct violation of federal laws. Why doesn''t somebody scream for their tax exempt staus to be pulled?

[undermyboot]

Which Christian sect/denomination preaches God''s truth and which do not?

Adventist Family Adventist groups, Jehovah''s Witnesses, and British Israelism
Baptist Family Southern Baptists, American Baptists, etc.
Christian Science-Metaphysical Family Christian Science, New Thought
Communal Family The Jesus People, Twin Oaks, etc.
Eastern Orthodox Family Various Orthodox churches -- Russian, Greek, Serbian, etc.
European Free-Church Family Amish, Brethren, Mennonites, Quakers, Shakers, etc.
Holiness Family Christian and Missionary Alliance, Church of the Nazarene, etc.
Independent Fundamentalist Family Plymouth Brethren, Fundamentalists, etc.
Latter-day Saints Family Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, The community of Christ
Lutheran Family Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, Lutheran church - Missouri Synod, etc.
Messianic Judaism Jews For Jesus, and other similar groups
Pentecostal Family Assemblies of God, Church of God (Cleveland, TN)
Pietist-Methodist Family Scandinavian Pietism, United Methodist Church, other Methodists
Reformed-Presbyterian Family Reformed, various Presbyterian churches, Congregational, United Church of Christ
Western Liturgical Family Anglican Communion; Roman Catholicism, including the Latin Church and the Eastern Rite Churches: (Armenian 5 Catholic Church, Chaldean C.C., Coptic C.C., Marionite C.C., Melkite C.C., Syrian C.C.); Old Catholicism; and the Ukranian Catholic Church.

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