Tax exemption is a privilege, not a right. It comes with conditions.
Yesterday “The Wall of Separation” noted that the Internal Revenue Service has issued a new report on questionable political activity by non-profit groups and a new revenue ruling giving guidance in this area.
The IRS is once again reminding non-profits that they may not legal intervene in partisan campaigns by endorsing or opposing candidates. Over the past few years, the IRS has repeatedly issued reports and warnings like this.
Incredibly, some religious leaders still have not gotten the message. The Wichita Eagle reported recently that the IRS is looking into allegations of partisan political activity at Spirit One Christian Center, a fundamentalist church that has long meddled in right-wing politics.
In October of 2006, a Wichita resident was shocked to see blatantly partisan messages on Spirit One’s marquee. One read, “PAUL MORRISON’S EARLY RELEASE OF FELLONS (sic) – REGINALD CARR – MLTPL MURDERS.” It was a reference to Paul Morrison, a candidate for Kansas attorney general and allegations that he was responsible for the inadvertent early release of Carr, who subsequently killed five people.
The other message read, “ABORTIONIST TILLER HAS GIVEN $300,000 TO SEBELIUS. PRICE OF 1000 BABIES.” This reference was to Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, who was seeking reelection. The message attempted to tie her to George Tiller, a Wichita doctor who provides late-term abortions.
The Wichita resident snapped pictures of the marquee. Americans United sent copies of the photos to the IRS and requested an investigation. It looks like that complaint is bearing fruit. As the Eagle reported, “Pastor Mark Holick of Spirit One Christian Center…said the IRS sent him a letter last month asking him to respond to questions about political activities at the church. Those activities include the pastor’s involvement in distributing voter guides and messages on the church’s marquee critical of candidates and their stances on abortion.”
Holick told the Eagle that the IRS has asked him to answer 31 questions. Four of them deal with messages on the church’s marquee. Holick was defiant, telling the newspaper, “It’s a clear violation of the First Amendment, the free exercise of religion, the free exercise of speech.”
Wrong. Tax exemption is a privilege, not a right. It comes with conditions. Groups that violate those conditions – including houses of worship – can be stripped of their tax exemption.
It happened to the Church at Pierce Creek after Americans United reported the New York congregation for placing a full-page advertisement in USA Today and other papers asserting that voting for Bill Clinton was a sin. The church, aided by lawyers affiliated with TV preacher Pat Robertson, sued the IRS to get the church’s tax exemption back. Two federal courts upheld the IRS’s action.
Most Americans tell pollsters they don’t want to hear their religious leaders telling them whom to vote for. People attend a house of worship to get spiritual guidance, not a list of political endorsements.
But for those pastors who insist on running a blatantly partisan pulpit, there is a solution: Give up your church’s tax exemption. Some are trying to have it both ways, demanding the right to remain tax free while constantly meddling in electoral politics. The IRS appears to be losing patience with this approach. It’s about time.
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