Antiwar sermon could cost church its tax-exempt status

[dogday]

PASADENA, Calif. -- With the campaign season in full swing, a church is in an escalating dispute with the IRS over an antiwar sermon -- delivered two days before the 2004 presidential election -- that could cost the congregation its tax-exempt status.

Religious leaders on both the right and left are watching, afraid the confrontation at All Saints Church will compromise their ability to speak out on issues such as abortion and gay marriage during the midterm elections.

In recent years, Republicans in particular have teamed with conservative evangelical leaders to motivate would-be voters, a strategy credited with helping President George W. Bush win re-election.

Under federal tax law, church officials can legally discuss politics. But to retain tax-exempt status, they can't endorse candidates or parties. Most who do so get a warning.

http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060921/NEWS07/609210404/1009


YES, LET'S NOT PREACH PEACE IN A CHURCH, RIGHT?

[razors edge]

1. Tax em all. it's only fair.

[Generic Other]

3. I agree

High time.

[SammyWinstonJack]

8. !

:thumbsup:

[Monkeyman]

2. What about the pro-war churchs should they not lose theirs

[ShortnFiery]

9. I switched Parishes because each week they'd make me PRAY

for Dear Leader.

No thank you. :(

[Cha]

4. What about the rwingers who preach shite

from the pulpit..are they exempt because they preach war?

[bobbolink]

5. Oh, so right!! Don't let a little thing like the 10 commandments

stand in the way of punishing a sermon...

GAK.

[WindRavenX]

6. cool, so that means we can tax the RCC, right?

Fair's fair, right?

[ShortnFiery]

7. Then the IRS needs to pull the tax exempt status of ALL the

Catholic Parishes in Arlington Diocese. The Bishop wrote a pro-Bush letter, naming names and pushing the Abortion question above that for unjust war. That letter was given to all HIS Parishes and distributed The Sunday immediately before the 2004 Presidential Elections.

This Bishop named both Senator Kerry and President Bush!

Why isn't this Arlington, VA, Bishop being censured and pull the tax exempt status of ALL the Catholic Parishes that he oversees?

[Joe Bacon]

11. Because Republicans are above the law.

Republicans are in total control. They are doing everything they can to lock the one-party state in for decades to come! And why don't we see scenes of filled streets here like we see in Mexico?

The sad truth is that Americans are the most selfish people on earth. As long as they are or they think they are getting their's and screwing everyone else, they don't care. You also have to add into the equation millions of fools who believe the rapture is coming next week, they don't care!

[twilight_sailing]

14. Joe,

I agree.

That is the truth of the matter.

[mcscajun]

13. Why not send a detailed letter to the IRS and see what happens?

My guess is that a complaint letter is more than likely what landed the Pasadena church in IRS hot water.

[man4allcats]

10. Perhaps tax-exempt status isn't worth the price.

The following story relates the views of Cynic philosopher Diogenes of Sinope (c. 404-323 B.C.E.) on what might be referred to in contemporary terms as the freedom from indebtedness to cronyism:

Diogenes Laertius writes that, “Plato saw Diogenes of Sinope washing lettuces, came up to him and quietly said to him, ‘Had you paid court to Dionysius, you wouldn’t now be washing lettuces,’ and Diogenes with equal calmness answered, ‘If you had washed lettuces, you wouldn’t have paid court to Dionysius’” (Lives of Eminent Philosophers, Book 6, Chapter 58). The lesson of this exchange is clear: whereas Plato views paying court as freeing one from poverty, the Cynic sees poverty as freeing one from having to pay court to a ruler. This second sense of freedom so forcefully advocated by the Cynics, comprises both autarkeia, or self-sufficiency, and parrhēsia, or the freedom to speak the truth: something one at court is never free to do. It is no surprise, then, that when asked what is “the most beautiful thing in the world,” Diogenes replied, “Parrhēsia.” (Diogenes Laertius, Lives of Eminent Philosophers, Book 6, Chapter 69.)

All emphasis is mine. - ayd

[mcscajun]

12. Bradley Whitford mentioned this on "Real Time" last night.

He's a member of that congregation and heard the sermon, entitled: "If Jesus Debated Senator Kerry and President Bush". It was delivered during the 2004 election season, and while the Reverend didn't endorse any candidate (in fact, he prefaced it by saying he wasn't going to suggest who anyone should vote for) he did say Jesus would condemn the Iraq war and Bush's doctrine of preemptive war. The church was reprimanded by the IRS the following summer (you must wonder WHY it took so long?).

Church officials intend to contest the pending action, and the whole matter will wind up before a judge.

Only one church has ever been stripped of its tax exempt status, and it was on the other side of the political spectrum. A church near Binghamton, N.Y. ran full-page newspaper ads against President Bill Clinton during the 1992 election season, and they were punished for that in 1995.

[htuttle]

15. Good thing they didn't preach the Sermon on the Mount...

...they might have gotten raided by DHS.

[madrchsod]

16. going to the supreme court

it`s going to be very interesting isn`t it?