Okay, we’ve got the Mormon Church urging its members to go all out to get California’s homophobic Proposition 8 enacted. We’ve got Catholics trying to deny communion to the faithful who voted for Obama–while the Bishops figure out how to really sharpen their take on whether or not Catholics can escape an eternity of hell-fire if they vote for pro-choice politicians. Of course, we all remember St. Louis’ own Archbishop Raymond Burke who helped set in motion a movement to deny Catholic politicians communion if they voted pro-life (or pro-stem-cell research).
And these organizations keep their tax-free IRS status? You. Have. Got. to. Be. Kidding. Remember what happened when the minister of a Southern California church delivered an anti-war sermon and the IRS came after him big-time?
A group know as the Alliance Defense Fund, however, is gearing up to try make the entire question moot by generating a supreme court case to challenge the prohibition. It seems to me, at least based on this guide that these instances of religious political meddling constitute unambiguous violations of the IRS rules; much of the guide is devoted to elaborating on the following prohibitions:
*no substantial part of its [the organization’s] activity may be attempting to influence legislation,
*the organization may not intervene in political campaigns
I see no reason why churches should not be subject to the same rules as any other non-profit as regards their tax-exempt status. I look forward to the Alliance court case; I would like to see this question settled once and for all.