The Internal Revenue Service is reminding churches and other charities to avoid partisan political actions. Because churches and charities are exempt from income tax, they are prohibited from endorsing candidates, donating to campaigns, raising funds or distributing campaign materials. While houses of worship may address political and social issues, federal tax law bars tax-exempt organizations from electioneering.
Organizations that […] Read More
Roy Moore isn’t Moses, and Capitol Hill sure isn’t Mt. Sinai. But the theocracy-minded former Alabama chief justice wandered in from the political wilderness yesterday to lobby Congress for his Ten Commandments bill. Ever since being ordered by federal courts to move his two-and-half-ton Commandments monument from the rotunda of the Alabama Judicial Building, Moore has found it easy to […] Read More
In a recent Christian Science Monitor
Belvidere, N.J., is the latest battleground in the fight over state-sponsored prayer. The town council voted last week in favor of separation of church and state by declining to publicly support the National Day of Prayer. James Dobson’s right-wing Focus on the Family sponsors prayer events at municipal buildings every year on the first Thursday in May. This time, […] Read More
Is Archbishop Charles Chaput giving a back-door endorsement to a Republican Senate candidate in Colorado? Denver Post columnist Diane Carman thinks so. She noted in her column today that Chaput’s recent message in the Denver Catholic Register sure seemed to steer Catholic voters toward candidate Peter Coors. Coors, chairman of the Coors beer company and founder of the Heritage […] Read More
Rep. John Hostettler (R-Ind.) has waged a long-time crusade to display the Ten Commandments in government buildings. He seems to want everyone to read the Decalogue and obey it. Apparently, however, he’s not too keen on obeying U.S. law. Hostettler was detained at Louisville’s International Airport April 20 after security screeners found a loaded handgun in his briefcase.
Hostettler, who […] Read More
President George W. Bush touts his “faith-based” initiative as a better path to providing social services. In his fanciful worldview, religiously based social services are always better and more efficient than their public and private secular alternatives. News of misused funds at one of South Florida’s largest “faith-based” charities should give him pause. The New York Times reports that […] Read More
Americans United for Separation of Church and State is one of more than 1,000 organizations co-sponsoring the March for Women’s Lives in Washington, D.C., on Sunday, April 25. We encourage all AU activists to join us in marching behind our church-state separation banner. AU Executive Director Barry Lynn will be one of the featured speakers at the rally.
Here are […] Read More
Religion and politics can be a combustible mixture. In Kentucky, a battle for control of the local Republican party ended in fisticuffs last weekend when two delegates argued over religion. According to the Louisville Courier-Journal, John Lawlor and Peter Hayes became embroiled in a heated exchange over who would attend the upcoming Republican National Convention. The gentlemen had “words” […] Read More
Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and his Department of Corrections continue their drive to bring Christianity to as many of the state’s prisoners as possible. Because as Bush said last December at the inauguration of the state’s first full-fledged, “faith-based” prison, inmates need the chance “to reflect on the awesome love of our Lord Jesus.”
On Wednesday, a second “faith-based” prison […] Read More