Americans United Files 7 Complaints After Churches Endorse Political Candidates

[Shallah Kali]

Americans United Files Seven Complaints With The IRS, After Churches Endorse Political Candidates In Religious Right Election Scheme
http://www.au.org/site/News2?abbr=cs_&page=NewsArticle&id=10115

• Bethlehem Baptist Church, Bethlehem, Ga.: According to press accounts, Pastor Jody Hice “urged his congregation to vote for Sen. John McCain and to not vote for Sen. Barack Obama.” On a tape recording of the sermon, Hice is heard saying, “When you enter the voting booth I want to urge you not to vote for Barack Obama” and “McCain…that’s who I’m going to be voting for, and I urge you to do the same.”

snip

• Warroad Community Church, Warroad, Minn.: Pastor Gus Booth told his congregation, “We need to vote for the most righteous of candidates. And it doesn’t take a brain surgeon to figure that out. The most righteous is John McCain.”

• New Life Church, West Bend, Wisc.: Speaking from the pulpit, Pastor Luke Emrich said, “I’m telling you straight up I would choose life. I would cast a vote for John McCain and Sarah Palin.”

• First Southern Baptist Church, Buena Park, Calif.: The Rev. Wiley Drake said, “I am angry because the government and the IRS and some Christians have taken away the rights of pastors. I have a right to endorse anybody I doggone well please. And if they don’t like that, too bad…. According to my Bible and in my opinion, there is no way in the world a Christian can vote for Barack Hussein Obama. Mr. Obama is not standing up for anything that is tradition in America.”

BTW Rev. Drake has trying to curse Americans United and asking his congregationt o do the same. He calls 'em Imprecatory Prayers I call 'em what they are - black magic curses. Calling harm on another is just plain wrong no matter how someone tries to dress it up. Praying for justice is one thing, praying for bad things to happen is another whole kettle of fish.

More at
http://www.au.org/site/News2?abbr=cs_&page=NewsArticle&id=10115

[tosh]

1. Fine, Rev. Drake. You can keep your right to endorse a candidate,

but you'll lose your tax-exempt status.

Simple as that.

[Maat]

27. Actually, the dufus needs to understand that he could have endorsed a candiate ...

just not from the pulpit, on church letterhead, or in a sermon.

They want to use their churches as political machines. That's morally reprehensible. We were just a victim of that kind of crap out here in California (Prop. 8). During the campaign, the pastors apparently threatened their congregants with going to Hell, or the like, if they dared to vote 'no' on 8.

[BrklynLiberal]

2. There are only a few things that I would celebrate more than having all churches in this

country lose their tax exempt status....

Too many of them are multimillion dollar businesses who use religion to gain political power...as the Church did in the Middle Ages in Italy.

There is no reason why they should not pay taxes on the property they own, and in some cases, make huge incomes from.

[Critters2]

3. VEry few churches make "huge incomes". I've been in ministry for 22 years,

and have yet to serve a church that wasn't running a deficit budget. Megachurches are the exception, not the rule. The churches like mine, who give people rides to doctor's appointments, staff the homeless shelter at least two nights a month, support three children in foreign orphanages, and speak out in favor of marriage equality and other justice issues, would cease to be if we paid property taxes. Which would be fine, if you're willing to staff the homeless shelter and give people rides to doctors' appointments. Otherwise, there are people who are benefiting from what we do. Whether you believe it or not.

[norepubsin08]

4. What denomination is your church?

[Critters2]

7. United Church of Christ. nt

[norepubsin08]

13. UCC is a great Church

I love their stance on things. I am the director of a peace and justice project that works out of a United Methodist Church and we do a lot of work with the UCC.

[BrklynLiberal]

9. UCC are very fine spiritual centers. I did not mean to imply that all churches were in

the business of making money. I know that is not true...
The irony is that most of the ones that violate the rules are the ones that are very wealthy.
There has to be a way to let them know that they cannot simply flaunt the Constitution without consequences.

[Critters2]

11. Thanks. I guess it was the words "all churches" in your subject heading that make me think

you meant "all churches". Thanks for the clarification.

[BrklynLiberal]

15. Sorry. I should have not used "all churches" when I did not really mean "all churches"

use their position to become profit centers.
Many of the best leaps forward in human rights have been led in no small part by religious leaders.
:blush:

[Fridays Child]

5. Agree!

[Jamastiene]

12. For the ones who preach politics from the pulpit,

I agree. There are some good churches that do a lot of good in communities, too, though. I say reward those help their communities and do not get involved in politics and remove the tax exempt status from the others who are stirring hatred and preaching politics. Separation of church and state has long since gone out the window because preaching politics with no law enforcement has been allowed to run rampant, unfortunately.

[BrklynLiberal]

16. You have stated my position better than I did. Thank you.

:hi:

[Jamastiene]

21. You are very welcome.

:hi:

[MichaelHarris]

6. None of this should be contained

to California. DUers in every state should form unions and visit every church in their community, especially the denominations that supported this hate. They should videotape, voice record and take names. A nationwide database should be made public online showing the churches preaching hate and politics from the pulpit. For those that are doing this the information gathered must be sent to the IRS and the local media outlets. They need to know they are now being watched. The light on the microscope just turned on and they are under it.

[Why Syzygy]

8. I suppose curses are tax free too.

:sarcasm:

[Shallah Kali]

23. Wouldn't it be interesting if curses were considered assault or similar offence under the law

these people obviously consider their prayer/curses effective ways of causing harm. There is one group which believes their 'prayers' against what they call the Queen of Heaven helped kill Mother Theresa and Princess Diana. So it is interesting to think what would happen if the law took them at their own word and own belief and treated their prayers for harm as equal to a threat of physical attack or an actual attempt to cause harm.....

[Shallah Kali]

25. Wouldn't it be interesting if curses were considered assault or similar offence under the law

these people obviously consider their prayer/curses effective ways of causing harm. There is one group which believes their 'prayers' against what they call the Queen of Heaven helped kill Mother Theresa and Princess Diana. So it is interesting to think what would happen if the law took them at their own word and own belief and treated their prayers for harm as equal to a threat of physical attack or an actual attempt to cause harm.....

[orleans]

10. from your link:

"Americans United Executive Director Barry W. Lynn said church electioneering has gone too far. Lynn, an ordained minister in the United Church of Christ, noted that last month, Americans United sent letters to churches nationwide, reminding pastors of the IRS regulations and urging them to keep their pulpits free of partisan politicking.

"Lynn said AU’s Legal Department will continue monitoring developments. Should the ADF be successful in getting a new challenge to the IRS regulations into the federal courts, AU will intervene at the appropriate time. (The organization filed a friend-of-the-court brief in the Branch Ministries case.)

-------------
church electioneering *has* gone too far

[adamuu]

14. I signed up for their newsletter n/t

[123infinity]

17. One local Baptist church did the same thing, or so I am told by some of its members.

Unfortunately I have no proof. However I am delighted that their knickers are in a twist over McCant's defeat.
haw haw

[tbyg52]

18. Hooray for AU! nt

[Selatius]

19. Choose life! Vote for the guy who supports more war!

We got some fucking morons in the pulpit.

[Fire_Medic_Dave]

20. Wonder why they didn't file against the predominately black churches that endorsed Obama?

[Shallah Kali]

22. They have reported violations recently but if that is not good enough here is the irs link

Americans United Asks IRS To Investigate N.C. Baptist Group That Hosted Obama Rally
http://www.au.org/site/News2?abbr=pr&page=NewsArticle&id=10103&security=1002&news_iv_ctrl=1241

IRS
http://www.irs.gov/irs/article/0,,id=178241,00.html

Americans United Project Fair Play to report churchs violations
http://projectfairplay.org/report

[Fire_Medic_Dave]

26. That's good, hypocrisy is never a good thing.

[rhett o rick]

24. What about the LDS church that spent millions to support Prop 8? nm

[Maat]

28. Unfortunately, churches are allowed to address ISSUEs,

just not endorse candidates.

The basis for recent complaints about the LDS church is that a church's main activity is not supposed to be influencing people one way or the other with respect to an issue, to the exclusion of what it's main activity - practicing the religion - is supposed to be.

[Shallah Kali]

29. Churches are allowed to support things like Prop 8 and keep their tax-free status

Which leaves us to exercise our rights like freedom of speech to say exactly what we think of them, the right to protest and to boycott LDS church businesses and the businesses of other prop 8 supporters.

AU has a list here of some of the violations that can be used to strip a church of tax exempt status:
http://www.au.org/site/PageServer?pagename=legal_reportaviolation