-Caveat Lector-
Colleen Jones <[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
>>I always thought it was illegal to tax church activity regardless of
their politics.
This decision could be reversed without a doubt; and this is how bad the
IRS is.<<
======
from:
http://www.au.org/pr7-9.htm
TEXAS PREACHER'S POLITICKING COULD CAUSE CHURCH TO LOSE ITS TAX EXEMPTION,
CHURCH-STATE WATCHDOG GROUP SAYS
CENSORSHIP CRUSADER URGES CONGREGATION TO VOTE 'INFIDELS' OFF WICHITA FALLS
CITY COUNCIL
Background Information
from July Church & State
A Texas preacher's threat to drive the "infidels" off the Wichita Falls
City Council could bring Internal Revenue Service scrutiny and the loss of
his congregation's federal tax-exempt status, a church-state watchdog group
has charged.
In a recent message to his flock at the First Baptist Church, the Rev.
Robert Jeffress said America is a Christian nation and congregants should
defeat city council members at the polls if they refuse to ban two books
with gay themes from the local public library. According to the June 29
Wichita Falls Times Record News, Jeffress challenged his congregation to
"vote out the infidels who would deny God and his word."
The pastor noted that city council races traditionally attract low voter
turnout and urged his congregation, which claims 8,300 members, to vote for
those who agree with their spiritual convictions.
In a July 9 letter to Jeffress, Americans United for Separation of Church
and State warned that the preacher was placing his church's tax exemption in
jeopardy.
"Your comments about how your congregation should vote in the next election
raise serious legal questions.� If you proceed with your plan to use your
church to defeat city council members with whom you disagree," observed the
Rev. Barry W. Lynn, Americans United executive director, "you are placing
the tax-exempt status of your congregation in jeopardy.
"The meaning of your 'vote out the infidels' comment is clear," Lynn added.
"You want city council members to vote your way about library books you find
objectionable, and if they fail to do so, you are instructing your
congregation to vote against them. As such, you have issued a political
threat, and this is exactly the kind of activity that federal tax law is
trying to prevent.
"Pastor Jeffress, you have every right to express your views on public
issues," Lynn explained. "As a Christian minister myself, I treasure the
right of religious organizations to participate in public discourse.
However, you do not have the right to impose your religious views on all
citizens of your community through force of law. America is a diverse
democracy, not a fundamentalist Christian theocracy."
Americans United is currently engaged in a nationwide campaign to educate
clergy about the laws governing church involvement in politics. As part of
the project, churches that violate the rules are being reported to the IRS.
In recent years, Americans United has notified the IRS of 14 religious
institutions that attempted to influence the outcome of elections, including
two churches and one religious radio network in Texas.
Further, in 1992, Americans United alerted the IRS to the activities of the
Church at Pierce Creek in Vestal, N.Y. At that time, the church purchased
full-page advertisements in national newspapers urging readers to vote
against then-candidate Bill Clinton in the 1992 presidential election. Three
years after Americans United reported this blatant example of church
politicking to the IRS, the church's tax exemption was revoked.
Americans United is a religious liberty watchdog group based in Washington,
D.C. Founded in 1947, the organization represents 60,000 members and allied
houses of worship in all 50 states.
-30-
� Americans United for Separation of Church and State, 1998.
All rights reserved.
1816 Jefferson Place, NW Washington, D.C. 20036 202-466-3234
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