Goading Churches into Defying Federal Tax Laws
Frederick Clarkson printable version print page     Bookmark and Share
Fri May 09, 2008 at 02:03:32 PM EST
The Religious Right has long made abuse of the priviledge of federal tax-exemption for churches and other non-profit organizations a political tool. While most of this goes on sub rosa, sometimes the movement organizes efforts to generate widespread civil disobedience, in hopes of making the law unenforceable.

This year is one of those times.

The Wall Street Journal reports that the Alliance Defense Fund, the premeir religious right legal network wants to goad churches into a high profile test. But there may be more going on here than meets the eye.

The Journal reports:
Alliance Defense Fund, a Scottsdale, Ariz., nonprofit, is hoping at least one sermon will prompt the Internal Revenue Service to investigate, sparking a court battle that could get the tax provision declared unconstitutional. Alliance lawyers represent churches in disputes with the IRS over alleged partisan activity.

The action marks the latest attempt by a conservative organization to help clergy harness their congregations to sway elections. The protest is scheduled for Sunday, Sept. 28, a little more than a month before the general election, in a year when religious concerns and preachers have been a regular part of the political debate.

It also comes as the IRS has increased its investigations of churches accused of engaging in politics....

Alliance fund staff hopes 40 or 50 houses of worship will take part in the action, including clerics from liberal-leaning congregations. About 80 ministers have expressed interest, including one Catholic priest, says Erik Stanley, the Alliance's senior legal counsel.

Even as such stunts serve to distort our national discourse in a theocratically framed argument, Americans United for Separation of Church and State noted in a press release that the chances of prevailing are slim:

In May of 2000, the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia unanimously held that the IRS properly revoked the tax exemption of the Church at Pierce Creek, a congregation near Binghamton, N.Y., that bought newspaper ads in 1992 opposing presidential candidate Bill Clinton. (Americans United filed a complaint with the IRS about this clear violation of tax law.)

The court ruled in Branch Ministries v. Rossotti that "the revocation of the Church's tax-exempt status neither violated the Constitution nor exceeded the IRS's statutory authority." (The three judges were Reagan appointees)

The Interfaith Alliance added:

The Alliance Defense Fund's call for pastors to break the law represents the height of irresponsibility.  They are putting churches across the country unnecessarily at risk to costly and time-consuming investigations that could result in harsh financial penalties.  Putting churches in legal and financial jeopardy seems a bizarre way of defending religious freedom, which the ADF claims to defend.

But there is an even greater issue at stake in this campaign than violating the law.  When religious leaders endorse candidates from the pulpit, they weaken both the sanctity of religion and the integrity of democracy.  The IRS allows - and the Interfaith Alliance encourages - religious leaders to speak out on the important political issues of the day, but when clergy endorse specific candidates or parties in their official capacity, they abuse their pastoral authority."

The IRS rules, while detailed and understandably unable to cover every cicumstance, are clear in principle:

"...all section 501(c)(3) organizations are absolutely prohibited from directly or indirectly participating in, or intervening in, any political campaign on behalf of (or in opposition to) any candidate for elective public office."

Any questions?

Nevertheless, the IRS has historically been reluctant to punish churches for straying over the line. However, over the past few years, the agency has been ramping-up both education and enforcement actions as churches, goaded by the religious right, have bent and broken the clear proscriptions against electioneering.

This could be a showdown year.

"I think very few clergy will yield to the Alliance Defense Fund's worldly temptation," Barry Lynn of Americans United said. "And those who do will find their churches' tax exemptions in jeopardy. I assume the ADF will provide a list of congregations unwise enough to join this move, and we'll be ready to report those churches to the IRS."

It will be tempting to some to view this as a tempest in a tea pot; another example of far out, but not terribly consequential religious right antics. But I think this is a politization effort whose ripple effects will extend far beyond the participating churches, and a constitutional lawsuit that will certainly take years to resolve.
This is certainly an effort to keep the political juices flowing in politically conscious churches of the religious right in an election year in which their fortunes look dim, at least at the national level.

But there is more.

This is an effort that is seeks to frame the ongoing debate over the role of religion in public life over the next few years. We can say this in part because the Alliance Defense Fund is a central strategy organization of the Religious Right, whose board includes top officers of Focus on the Family and Campus Crusade for Christ. Their main initiatives are bellwether activities and merit our attention.




Display:
if lawsuits are initiated before the election, the gop will paint themselves as great martyrs for christ, the liberals trying to outlaw religion, blah blah blah.  i'm sure much of the romney and huckabee wings of the party will buy it.  but with rod parsley and john hagee hanging likely making mccain look even crazier than people are afraid he is, i wonder if rank & file goopers will be too disgusted to vote.  i suppose a lot will depend on how or even whether the press covers it.

by Laurel on Fri May 09, 2008 at 11:30:48 PM EST

Protection of free speech, and on free practice of religious beliefs are essiential to our identity as a people, however, there is a disturbing crossover of religion into politics. It is the divirsity of religious belief and practice which keeps it from creating a stronger problem. A small compound with several hundred or thousand people represents no real threat to America. Even a small congregation in a small town with strange beliefs and practice represent no threat to the nation, however, when certain hot button issues become mainstream accross very large religious institutions their impact is strongly felt. The force may be good or evil, but the weilding of political force is dangerous. This is true be the practice by my friend or foe. The religious leader in the prophetic tradition was not usually the political leader, Moses being the greatest example to the contrary. Today a subtle change has taken place. The prophetic voice challenges not the leader, but the people, it is a change from calling religious leaders to practice the faith they proclaim, and rather to speak to those outside the faith, compelling them to obey the laws without experiencing the faith community. This is a danger to avoid at all costs.

by chaplain on Sat May 10, 2008 at 09:51:06 AM EST
is a priviledge, not a right.

Everyone has a right to speak out publicly on whatever they choose. No one has a right to use tax-exempt funds to do so.

It ain't rocket science.

But this is an area that has been exploited by widespread ignorance about the law, and the desire of theocratic elements to disrupt confidence in government and create an atomosphere of persecution.

by Frederick Clarkson on Sat May 10, 2008 at 10:42:08 AM EST
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that instead of disrupting confidence in government, they're preying on the lack of confidence that many (probably most) people have.  Most minority (and poor white) people have little-to-no confidence in the government- except to be somewhat confident that the "government" will be unjust and abusive.  This attitude is decades old, btw.

It's also getting worse.  

(We got stopped last week for a "broken tail-light"- which worked fine when we checked it- and in essence the cop told me that he had the right to know where I was going, where I was coming from, and why I was on the road!)

by ArchaeoBob on Sat May 10, 2008 at 12:53:26 PM EST
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"Protection of free speech, and on free practice of religious beliefs are essiential to our identity as a people."

If this is so, why did it take a federal law for my people to gain their "freedom of religion"- in 1980???!!!  That's only 28 years ago!  

Maybe YOUR identity has been supported- but "Christians" have been trying to eliminate Native American identity for for many generations.  Yeah, they "minister" to us- but demand that we give up our culture and heritage in order to "be Christian" (there's a term for this- ETHNOCIDE!)

Even now, most of my own tribe have to hide their identity, cut their hair, and pass as white to keep their jobs and not be persecuted!

Being forced to hide one's identity is not fun.  We aren't free to be ourselves.  We're under constant pressure to take on the "American" identity (which is the very source of the persecution!)

Regarding the "small compounds"...

When a preacher tells his followers that the people around them are evil and will drag them to hell- how long will it be before they start taking on a "first strike" ideology? (remember Iraq?)  A "small compound" can very easily become a threat to the local community- as several cults have demonstrated over the years.  (And yes, I'm also implying that the U.S. could easily become a threat to the rest of the world!)

The problem with most religious leaders is that they aren't content with religion- they want to rule more and more of their follower's lives- and gain control over others outside their group as well.   They want to transform society instead of themselves.  Their version of religion is external, instead of internal.  It feeds right into the common ideology of power and authority.

They forget that position does not mean privilege, it means responsibility and commitment.

by ArchaeoBob on Sat May 10, 2008 at 12:44:54 PM EST
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