On 9/18/06, Dave Land <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
On the eve of the 2004 election, a liberal Christian pastor in Pasadena preached (what is reportedly) a highly political anti-war and anti-poverty sermon with the result that the IRS is threatening to take away the church's tax-exempt status. I haven't read the entire sermon, but it is available on the NPR web site for anyone who is interested.
The text of the sermon is here: http://www.allsaints-pas.org/pdf/(10-31-04)%20If%20Jesus%20Debated.pdf#search=%22regas%20sermon%22 Non-profits are not prohibited from being political, not by any means. They are *only* prohibited from endorsing candidates. They can endorse laws and policies. I see no endorsement of a candidate in that sermon. In fact, although he is more critical of the administration's policies, he certainly challenges Kerry along with Bush. The scenario is a debate among Jesus, Bush and Kerry... and the "winner" is Jesus, so that's where his endorsement goes. I suppose that the IRS could accuse him of endorsing an undeclared, illegal (since he isn't a U.S. citizen) candidate named Jesus, but that would be truly ridiculous. There is nothing wrong with pastor saying, "Here are some things to think about before deciding who to vote for," which is what this one did. I think the IRS is way out of line. I would hope that more pastors would be willing to challenge their members' thinking about war and poverty.. and the Americanized hijacking of Christianity by the "religious right." Our pastor did so a couple of weeks ago and caught some grief for it from some of our members... but more power to him. Imagine a country in which churches and other non-profits are not free to speak out against war, poverty and other social ills. That's hardly what our Constitution describes and not a system in which I would want to live. Nick -- Nick Arnett [EMAIL PROTECTED] Messages: 408-904-7198 _______________________________________________ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
