In IRS Protest, Pastors Back Candidates

Conservative Legal Group Fighting To Abolish Restrictions On Church Involvement In Politics

(AP)  Pastor Luke Emrich prepared his sermon this week knowing his remarks could invite an investigation by the Internal Revenue Service. But that was the whole point, so Emrich forged ahead with his message: Thou shalt vote according to the Scriptures.

"I'm telling you straight up, I would choose life," Emrich told about 100 worshippers Sunday at New Life Church, a nondenominational evangelical congregation about 40 miles from Milwaukee.

"I would cast a vote for John McCain and Sarah Palin," he said. "But friends, it's your choice to make, it's not my choice. I won't be in the voting booth with you."

All told, 33 pastors in 22 states were to make pointed recommendations about political candidates Sunday, an effort orchestrated by the Arizona-based Alliance Defense Fund.

The conservative legal group plans to send copies of the pastors' sermons to the IRS with hope of setting off a legal fight and abolishing restrictions on church involvement in politics. Critics call it unnecessary, divisive and unlikely to succeed.

Congress amended the tax code in 1954 to state that certain nonprofit groups, including secular charities and places of worship, can lose their tax-exempt status for intervening in a campaign involving candidates.

Erik Stanley, senior legal counsel for the Alliance Defense Fund, said hundreds of churches volunteered to take part in "Pulpit Freedom Sunday." Thirty-three were chosen, in part for "strategic criteria related to litigation" Stanley wouldn't discuss.

Pastor Jody Hice of Bethlehem Baptist Church in Bethlehem, Ga., said in an interview Sunday that his sermon compared Democrat Barack Obama and Republican John McCain on abortion and gay marriage and concluded that McCain "holds more to a biblical world view."

He said he urged the Southern Baptist congregation to vote for McCain.

"The basic thrust was this was not a matter of endorsing, it's a First Amendment issue," Hice said. "To say the church can't deal with moral and societal issues if it enters into the political arena is just wrong, it's unconstitutional."

At the independent Fairview Baptist Church in Edmond, Okla., pastor Paul Blair said he told his congregation, "As a Christian and as an American citizen, I will be voting for John McCain."

"It's absolutely vital to proclaim the truth and not be afraid to proclaim the truth from our pulpits," Blair said in an interview.

Because the pastors were speaking in their official capacity as clergy, the sermons are clear violations of IRS rules, said Robert Tuttle, a professor of law and religion at George Washington University. But even if the IRS rises to the bait and a legal fight ensues, Tuttle said there's "virtually no chance" courts will strike down the prohibition.

"The government is allowed, as long as it has a reasonable basis for doing it, to treat political and nonpolitical speech differently, and that's essentially what it's done here," Tuttle said.

Not all the sermons came off as planned. Bishop Robert Smith Sr. of Word of Outreach Center in Little Rock said he had to postpone until next week because of a missed flight. Smith, a delegate to this month's Republican National Convention, declined to say whom he would endorse.

Promotional materials for the initiative said each pastor would prepare the sermon with "legal assistance of the ADF to ensure maximum effectiveness in challenging the IRS."

Stanley said the pastors alone wrote the sermons, with the framework that they be "a biblical evaluation of the candidates for office with a specific recommendation." That could be a flat-out endorsement or opposition to one or both candidates, he said.

The legal group declined to release a list of participants in advance, citing concerns about potential disruptions at services. A list and excerpts from sermons will be made public early this week, with the delay necessary for lawyers to review the material, the group said.

Under the IRS code, places of worship can distribute voter guides, run nonpartisan voter registration drives and hold forums on issues, among other things. However, they cannot endorse a candidate, and their political activity cannot be biased for or against a candidate, directly or indirectly - a sometimes murky line.

The IRS said in a statement it is aware of Sunday's initiative and "will monitor the situation and take action as appropriate."

The agency has stepped up oversight of political activity in churches in recent years after receiving a flurry of complaints from the 2004 campaign. The IRS reported issuing written advisories against 42 churches for improper politically activity in 2004.

The ban on churches intervening in candidate campaigns survived a court challenge when a U.S. appellate court upheld the revocation of tax-exempt status of a New York church that took out a newspaper ad urging Christians to vote against Bill Clinton in the 1992 presidential election.

Opposition to Sunday's sermon initiative was widespread. A United Church of Christ minister in Ohio rallied other religious leaders to file a complaint with the IRS. Roman Catholic Archbishop John Favalora of Miami wrote that the archdiocese abides by IRS rules in part because "we can do a lot for our communities with the money we save by being tax-exempt."

Three former IRS officials also asked the agency to investigate the initiative, questioning the ethics of lawyers asking ministers to break the law.

Two-thirds of adults oppose political endorsements from churches and other places of worship and 52 percent want them out of politics altogether, according to a survey last month from the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life.

"It is good public policy that in exchange for the valuable privilege of a tax exemption, you cannot turn your church or charity into a political action committee," said Barry Lynn, executive director of Americans United for Church and State, which intends to report the participating churches to the IRS, along with any other churches acting independently.

[mensarino]

Should they violate the law,strip them of their tax exempt status.

[aelaw]

I already pay taxes. Why should I have to pay taxes again just because I go to church?

That is "Taxation without Representation".

Posted by Hwy71So at 07:57 AM : Sep 30, 2008
------
Do you not pay taxes when you shop at a business or on your utility bill? A church is non-exempt business in legitimate cases.

[no2mcsame]

If they chose to skew the views of their members, they should LOSE their right to Tax Exemption. They need to decide what their true calling is and leave the rest to Jesus.

[ladyearth-2009]

Just because they are religious organizations and they want a part in politics does not mean they deserve to be taxed,if thats the case why not tax Atheist and Pagan organizations.Its not right to discriminate against those who are of the Catholic,Protestant or Jewish Faith.

[kansas1946]

If a presidential candidate promotes something opposed to the teachings of the Bible, it is the church''''s OBLIGATION to refute it.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Posted by Hwy71So at 10:52 AM : Sep 30, 2008
+ report abuse
*********************************

Like what?

[kansas1946]

This is a good thing. When the churches lose their tax-exempt status and start paying taxes just like every other business (which they are) then it should help relieve some of the tax burden from the rest of us. Good deal, I think.

[tomanyt]

Fine. Let him say what he wants, but remove the tax exempt status.

[G H M]

now in english
TAX THEM
PEOPLE THAT GO TO THAT CHURCH
THEY LOSE TAX DEDUCTIBLE STATUS
IRS DO YOUR JOB!
IT''S THE LAW

[G H M]

TAX THEM
PEOPLE THE GO TO THAT CURCH
THEY LOSE TAX DEDUCTIBLE STATUS
IRS DO YOUR JOB!
IT"S THE LAW

[armydog2]

if churches and their pastors want to play politics then tax them like the rest of us.be they protestant, catholic, jewish, evangelical or whatever.

[lajaw]

By the IRS rules, churches are not liable for taxes. Th 501(c)3 exemption is a farce for churches. Do some research. Drop you federal exemption, and do what a church is supposed to do. Do not fall for the leftists trap of registration.

[juwboy]

Jesus never married, had long hair like a girl and an unnaturally close relationship with his mother.

He had an obsession with the feet of both s-e-x-e-s, never missing an opportunity to wash them.

He surrounded himself with male companions who were kissed on the lips.

When Jesus was arrested, he was followed by a scantily-clad youth, who ran off naked into the night.

What would all of you "Christians" call Jesus if he was alive today?

Messiah?

I don`t think so.

[vanron100]

Doesn''t this kind of ...
Right-Wing-Radical-Political-Christianity...
Sound like what we''re hearing coming out of the Middle East...
Like...''Political Islamic Terrorism''.

[kansas1946]

Five of the six supported Republican presidential candidate John McCain. The sixth, Wiley Drake of First Southern Baptist Church in Buena Park, Calif., said: "According to my Bible and in my opinion, there is no way in the world a Christian can vote for Barack Hussein Obama." Drake was not among the pastors Alliance Defense Fund selected for the protest and was acting independently.

***********************************************
That just shows how little this Drake knows about his Bible, although that figures. While Barack Obama, as far as I know, has done nothing that is non-biblical, in the judgement of the Bible, John McCain is an adulterer. No getting around it. Jesus was very specific in who could divorce and under what circumstances they could remarry, and the hard cold biblical facts are that John McCain is an adulterer. So all of these so-called Christian ministers are full of poo-poo.
But they can support who they like. If they do it out of their churches though, they will lose their non-exempt status and they can pay taxes like the rest of us, which is not a bad thing.

[tonyfromtroy]

Pastor Luke Emrich is WRONG. He SOLD his right to free speech by allowing his church to become a church of the State rather than a church of the Kingdom. As long as the IRS is giving his church a break, I hope they shut his church''s hell-born doors. As a former deacon in a Christian church, I''m sick and dog-tired of presumed church leaders having more faith in George than Jesus. If they think the government can provide more liberally than He whom we presumably worship, if we''re to rebell from God and NOT render unto Caesar, then we had better obey the State. Their wrath will come sooner than His. Godless, unbelieving morons, all!

[aelaw]

RE: US Constitution Article. VI. - Debts, Supremacy, Oaths
...
The Senators and Representatives before mentioned, and the Members of the several State Legislatures, and all executive and judicial Officers, both of the United States and of the several States, shall be bound by Oath or Affirmation, to support this Constitution; but no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States.

The churches appear to be giving the candidates a religious test before voting or asking their followers to vote based on their "test".

If IRS is investigating for violating IRS rules, should our attorney generals also be investigating for potentially violating our Constitution?

[element51]

Why all the fuss? The damage has already been done. The message not to vote for Obama has already been put out there and once done can''t be taken back. This is indeed a foul thing that has been done and now that they have done it once the gate has been broken down and it will continue. The IRS won''t do anything because God is involved and we sure don''t want to offend Him. These religious fanatics will not stop until they get their way and to He11 with your rights. It will be their way or else. They are working hard right now to impose their will and they are very successful. They have the support of a faction of the republican party whose goal is to destroy the middle class and together they make a formidible team. Resign yourselves ladies and gentlemen cause the next thing you know they''ll be at your door.

[indianaman13]

This is why Thomas Jefferson (When President John F. Kennedy welcomed forty-nine Nobel Prize winners to the White House in 1962 he said, "I think this is the most extraordinary collection of talent and of human knowledge that has ever been gathered together at the White House %u2013 with the possible exception of when Thomas Jefferson dined alone.") Included the separation of Church and State in his document "Bill of Religious Freedom" which basically says that any religion endorsed by the state gets favorable treatment, which isn''t fair to other religions.
In my personal opinion, fetuses that are aborted get a straight shot back to God''s arms in heaven because they have never sinned. Since God said "judge not lest you be judged as ye judge" we have to let people exercise the free will God gave them, even if we believe its wrong. On the same subject as murder, anyone against abortion, better be against WAR as well. It is hypocritical in the extreme to say murder of a 18-30 year old soul in war isn''t as bad as the murder of a 3 day old soul. Besides, I believe most politicians are against abortion, not because its murder, but because of all the revenue and taxes that 1 child will generate over its whole life. Even if that child is a degenerate drug user, or sexual predator (caused by poor parenting and abuse) that child/person has to eat, buy things and services that generate taxes and revenue for the government and the corporations that sell object things.

[indianaman13]

This is why Thomas Jefferson (When President John F. Kennedy welcomed forty-nine Nobel Prize winners to the White House in 1962 he said, "I think this is the most extraordinary collection of talent and of human knowledge that has ever been gathered together at the White House %u2013 with the possible exception of when Thomas Jefferson dined alone.") Included the separation of Church and State in his document "Bill of Religious Freedom" which basically says that any religion endorsed by the state gets favorable treatment, which isn''t fair to other religions.
In my personal opinion, fetuses that are aborted get a straight shot back to God''s arms in heaven because they have never sinned. Since God said "judge not lest you be judged as ye judge" we have to let people exercise the free will God gave them, even if we believe its wrong. On the same subject as murder, anyone against abortion, better be against WAR as well. It is hypocritical in the extreme to say murder of a 18-30 year old soul in war isn''t as bad as the murder of a 3 day old soul.

[kansas1946]

I think those ministers can say anything they want, but they should lose their tax-exempt status. All non-profits that have tax-exempt status are barred from supporting candidates. It is just part of the IRS code. If a church wants to lobby and support candidates, then they should be happy to give up their tax-exempt status.