Religious Right Lawbreakers
DefCon Clark printable version print page     Bookmark and Share
Tue Nov 29, 2005 at 11:15:22 AM EST
So in light of the recent action's taken by the IRS against All Saints Church in Pasadena, CA we at DefConAmerica.org have decided to make sure the IRS doesn't miss any tax exempt religious organizations who may have overstepped their bounds.
Have you noticed overtly political sermons, fliers, or events sponsored by or emanating from a local church? Are you collecting information on the political actions of a national religious right organization or megachurch? Let DefCon know!  We'll be taking any and all infringements right to the IRS ourselves. We wouldn't want to leave all of our politically active religious right friends out would we?

Email us any info you have at Tips@DefConAmerica.org, and of course stay tuned to DefConBlog.org.



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Religious Right Lawbreakers | 17 comments (17 topical, 0 hidden)
Hoo boy, do I ever have some updates! :3 (none / 0)
I've went ahead and sent in info on the Dirty Three in my area, but just so that OTHER folks can watch them (seeing as, well...they're now nationally infamous):

a) Highview Baptist

These are the folks who hosted Justice Sunday I.  Probably the easiest folks in my immediate area to get proof of illegal electioneering for, as the Family Research Council sells tapes of it and both Trinity Broadcast Network and Sky Angel have televised it.

b) Evangel World Prayer Center

This is the fun little dominionist group I am a walkaway from.  AoG megachurch, a deacon (Frank Simon) is the head of the AFA here as well as a group called "Freedom's Heritage Forum"; they were the first blatantly dominionist church in Louisville, have had politicians stumping there, have told people it's their Christian Duty to vote Republican (including having Oliver North come in and claim that Iran-Contra was godly duty and preaching that the end was soon and the Commies were the Antichrist), distribute AFA voter's guides in the church every election with Frankie Simon himself handing them out, and they operate a small godcasting empire (shortwave (via http://www.wjiesw.com), radio and television.  They have multiple front companies, including High Adventure Ministries (which is their shortwave-radio front).

In a lot of ways it's very similar to Ted Haggard's New Life Church, only smaller and predating it by about thirty years :P

They do stream and broadcast their sermons (in fact, about fully half to three quarters of the religious broadcasting on shortwave, I am ashamed to say, is directly linked to the dominionist church I walked away from).  Most of the overtly political stuff they don't broadcast so much on the radio, more so on the televised sermons.

As an aside, they also broadcast illegally on shortwave to US audiences (as evidenced by advertising of 1-800 numbers; shortwave broadcasters in the US are NOT supposed to target North America)

c) Southeast Christian

Notable because they've already had their tax-exempt status yanked at least once for political electioneering.  Known by locals as "Six Flags Over Jesus", it is a large megachurch (over 16,000 members, the largest church in KY) and is so large it even publishes its own newspaper (Southeast Outlook) that is put out in darned near every newsrack in the area.  They also rent time on WJIE's shortwave godcasting networks, and are pretty dominionist in and of themselves.

These are the three Big Baddies in my hometown; it'd be useful for folks to list the Big Baddies in their hometowns, too.  A lot of groups are interconnected in ways that aren't obvious.

by dogemperor on Tue Nov 29, 2005 at 12:41:21 PM EST

WOW (none / 0)
We got so many tips about religious right political actions in the last hour that the email account was filled!!! It's been fixed, so if yours bounced back be sure to send it again!

by DefCon Clark on Tue Nov 29, 2005 at 01:10:03 PM EST
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Great! (none / 0)
I really like DefCon. And I recommended this diary. That your email box was filled so quickly gladdens my heart.

by Lorie Johnson on Tue Nov 29, 2005 at 01:16:55 PM EST
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And THIS is the power of 20-mule-team TTA :3 (none / 0)
This is REALLY encouraging to hear (well, not so much the mailbox being so full it was bouncing mail, but the fact you were receiving so much mail that it started bouncing).

Might I recommend an infinite mail quota?  Because you are going to need a REALLY big mailbox, trust me.  (Seriously, this is an endemic problem, even Americans United doesn't realise how bad it is, really)

by dogemperor on Tue Nov 29, 2005 at 01:57:09 PM EST
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It's Been Fixed (none / 0)
Yes it was a problem, but only for a moment. I believe it's been remedied forever.

And yes it is both wonderful and terrible. There is so much to do!

by DefCon Clark on Tue Nov 29, 2005 at 02:45:41 PM EST
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woohoo! (none / 0)
That's great - and awful - at the same time...

Great because it means that people are waking up and getting involved...

Awful because it means that the problem is almost universal...

I suppose it means there is a lot of work to be done!


by EmilyWynn8 on Tue Nov 29, 2005 at 02:18:34 PM EST
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You've got it right! (none / 0)
Yep, even Concerned Women for America is Concerned! Hit a touchy note? Here's the intro to a radio cast, pointing out, of course that even though this is a LIBERAL church, it just might not be right ... oops!

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has informed a prominent liberal church in Southern California that it could lose its tax-exempt status over a sermon given against the Iraq war, on the eve of the Presidential election. While the sermon condemned U.S. actions overseas, there was no condemnation or approval of either presidential candidate. Still, the IRS said the sermon was an "implicit endorsement." Michael Bowman, CWA's Director of State Legislative Relations says this case should be troubling to all Christians.

Find it here: IRS Becomes Church 'Hushers'

by cyncooper on Tue Nov 29, 2005 at 11:42:32 PM EST

Not surprising that CWFA is scared (none / 0)
CWFA has a real reason to be scared, as do most other dominionist political groups.

A lot of groups like AFA, Concerned Women for America, Focus on the Family, Love In Action, and so on are specifically organised as "ministries" under the tax codes and receive 501(c)3 exemptions--just like churches; dominionist groups that don't organise as "ministries" frequently organise themselves as "educational foundations" which also are exempt under 501(c)3.

In fact, FotF has gotten in trouble with this at least once--Family Research Council was a 501(c)4 split off specifically so that FotF wouldn't have to end up paying back taxes and lose their tax exempt status.

If DefCon America's gambit works...there is going to be a LOT of case law that is going to support yanking the tax exempt status of a good ninety percent of dominionist groups in the US.  (FRC, Christian Coalition and Eagle Forum will be safe as they're organised as 501(c)4 groups, but most other groups are going to be in major tax trouble.)

And because I am an evil, evil person and always like to encourage the good deeds of others:

This site is a very handy tool to allow you to look up the form 990 that tax-exempt organisations are required to fill out in lieu of a 1040C (the search doesn't work so well on individual churches, but it works great for organisations like Love In Action, Focus on the Family, et al).

Here's a few for the hit parade:

AFA's 2004 filing as a 501(c)3
FotF's 2004 filing as a 501(c)3
CWFA's  2004 filing as a 501(c)3, hence their concern
American Vision's 2004 filing as a 501(c)3
Alliance Defense Fund's 2004 filing as a 501(c)3
Coral Ridge Ministries' 2004 filing as a 501(c)3
Part 1, part 2, part 3, and part 4 of the DeVos Foundations's 2003 filings (four separate foundations exist legally, all four registered as 501(c)3)
Family Research Council's 2004 filing as a 501(c)3 (apparently they have changed from 501(c)4 to 501(c)3, maybe not as safe as we thought!)
Family Research Institute's 2004 filing as a 501(c)3
Traditional Values Coalition's 2004 filing as a 501(c)4 (one of the few dominionist groups legally allowed to politick)
Eagle Forum's 2004 filing as a 501(c)4 (this part of it is safe, but NOT where the bulk of its assets are)
Eagle Forum Education and Legal Defense's 2004 filing as a 501(c)3 (this is where the bulk of Eagle Forum's legal assets actually lie)
Promise Keepers' 2004 filing as a 501(c)3
Promise Keepers Charitable Foundation's 2004 filing as a 501(c)3
Exodus International's 2004 filing as a 501(c)3
Love In Action's 2004 filing as a 501(c)3
NARTH's 2004 filing as a 501(c)3
American Life League's 2004 filing as a 501(c)3
Constitution Party's rather...bizarre 2004 filing (in which they send in a 990 but state they don't need to because they're a political party)
Natinoal Right to Life Committee's 2004 filing as a 501(c)3
(interestingly, some state Right to Life Committees seem to be organised as 501(c)4 groups; see Kentucky Right to Life, for example)
Priests for Life's 2004 filing as a 501(c)3
Vision America's 2004 filing as a 501(c)3 (Vision America is the group behind the Texas and Ohio Restoration Movements, and is attempting to set up similar groups nationwide)
CBN's  2004 filing as a 501(c)3
Florida and Texas branches of Trinity Broadcasting's filings for 2003 (Trinity Broadcasting has set itself up in approximately ten separate front companies, if not more; it is a major player in religiobroadcasting including news aimed at the dominionist "parallel media" and is also an increasingly major player in low power TV license hijacking)
Liberty University's 2004 filing as a 501(c)3
Patrick Henry College's 2004 filing as a 501(c)3
Acton Institute's 2004 filing as a 501(c)3
Chalcedon's 2005 filing as a 501(c)3
Discovery Institute's 2005 filing as a 501(c)3

...well, you all get the idea.  Pretty much ALL of 'em are using 501(c)3 exemptions.

by dogemperor on Wed Nov 30, 2005 at 11:49:28 AM EST
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totally useful (none / 0)
What a great list, and with the links all in there.  Thank you.  Very useful!

Didn't the Christian Coalition have a big problem a few years back with its tax status and distributing voter guides (that, quite coincidentally, only had suggested Republican candidates, if l recall)? Do you remember the specifics?

by cyncooper on Wed Nov 30, 2005 at 01:56:48 PM EST
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Yes, they did (none / 0)
They've had troubles with it (in fact, the Christian Coalition had to change its tax status to 501(c)4, the same as that used by PACs) because of evidence of electioneering.

As it is, The Interfaith Alliance still sends yearly warnings to churches regarding both the Christian Coalition and, more recently, the AFA and FotF affiliated voter's guides.

by dogemperor on Wed Nov 30, 2005 at 04:42:35 PM EST
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The Foundation Center (none / 0)
Yes!! This site is one of the most useful on the web in my opinion. Keep the info coming and don't forget to make sure we get it by sending it to Tips@DefConAmerica.org.

by DefCon Clark on Wed Nov 30, 2005 at 02:13:01 PM EST
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Sent you a list so you can check it twice :3 (none / 0)
And so you can see who's been naughty and nice.  Mostly naughty, from what I'm seeing.

There's a few more not posted here in the email I just sent to the tips line :3

One thing too it may be good for folks to do--in the case of dominionist churches active locally, find out who your state tax authorities are in regards to nonprofits and charities and see if the local dominionist groups are registered as nonprofits in your state.  (They could well be in violation of state tax laws too, and often if a group has state tax-exempt status this is a clue they have federal tax-exempt status as well.)

by dogemperor on Wed Nov 30, 2005 at 04:40:10 PM EST
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Check this out: (none / 0)
The IRS is taking a look at Focus on the Family after a complaint was filed against them.

IRS complaint

What's sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander...

by Lorie Johnson on Wed Nov 30, 2005 at 01:50:52 PM EST

HAH (none / 0)
Oh, one hopes this is the start of many, many investigations of dominionist groups. :3

by dogemperor on Wed Nov 30, 2005 at 04:40:56 PM EST
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Well..... (none / 0)
Many federal agencies are mandated to respond to complaints. The religious right has worked the ref - especially in the case of the FCC - for a long time now.

I think there might be a few heartfelt complaints from other quarters.

by Bruce Wilson on Wed Nov 30, 2005 at 09:54:25 PM EST
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Update (none / 0)
Perkins to speak about JSIII on Sunday.

by DefCon Clark on Fri Dec 02, 2005 at 06:10:23 PM EST
And in light of that... (none / 0)
I've made a formal complaint to DefCon America, seeing as Greater Exodus Baptist has quite a number of links to the dominionist movement pre-Justice Sunday III.

One place to watch in regards to the simulcast of Justice Sunday III (based on the last two Justice Sunday events) is on Sky Angel Dominion (a dominionist-operated "mini-dish" company like DirectTV or Dish Network--in fact, Sky Angel does not own satellites of its own and leases bandwidth from Dish Network's EchoStar satellite system; lest one doubt their dominionist intentions, one merely need see a list of ministries supporting Sky Angel).

Sky Angel has previously aired both Justice Sunday events (and in fact that list should give you an idea of Sky Angel's usual "in-house" programming); in fact, they were kind enough last time around to issue a media release on it (explaining it's on Angel Two, one of their in-house channels).  From what I have gathered, Justice Sunday I was also carried on Sky Angel and later retransmitted on Trinity Broadcasting Network.

Those of you who monitor the dominionist media networks might want to keep a very close eye on this.  (For further info, I would like to point to a previous comment regarding Justice Sundays and Sky Angel's involvement thereof, including a link to their schedule that should be usable by about two weeks prior to the event.)

It also appears, incidentially, that the FRC finally updated Justice Sunday's website but it's consisting entirely of registration info. One wonders if they screen the info (if they do,  you might just have prima facie evidence of electioneering de facto).

by dogemperor on Fri Dec 02, 2005 at 07:35:24 PM EST
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