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Advocacy Blog
Thursday, June 12, 2008
Americans United Ask IRS to Investigate Church in Minnesota
Americans United for Separation of Church and State (AU) have asked the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to investigate a Minnesota church whose pastor declared that Christians cannot vote for either Senator Hillary Clinton (D-NY) or Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) in the presidential election. Pastor Gus Booth said in a May 18 sermon at Warroad Community Church in Warroad, MN, that Christians "cannot support Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama. Both Hillary and Barack favor the shedding of innocent blood [abortion] and the legalization of the abomination of homosexual marriage."
The Warroad Pioneer, a local weekly newspaper covered the sermon under the headline "Local pastor uses scripture to oppose presidential candidates Clinton and Obama." Booth sent the paper's article to both AU and the IRS. Americans United's mission is to preserve the separation of church and state as guaranteed by the constitution to ensure religious freedom for Americans, according to its Web site. According to AU's press release, the group also received an e-mail from the pastor noting that he had used his pulpit for partisan purposes. The email stated; "I am writing you to let you know that I preached a sermon in my church on Sunday, May 18, 2008, that specifically addressed the current candidates for President in the light of the Bible,' Booth wrote. 'As you can see from the attached newspaper article, I specifically made recommendations as to who a Christian should vote for."
In the press release, Rev. Barry W. Lynn, AU executive director, "called Booth's actions a flagrant violation of federal tax law. Churches and other tax-exempt organizations are free to address moral issues but are not allowed to engage in campaign intervention."
Posted by Amanda Adams
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