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Advocacy Blog
Wednesday, September 03, 2008
Churches Web Politicking Garners IRS Scrutiny
Many churches are now using the World Wide Web to disseminate their message to large groups of people. As a result, messages that previously would have been confined to the walls of the church and only heard by like-minded individuals are now heard by both supporters and opponents of the message. Federal tax law prohibits a pastor from giving a message that promotes or opposes a candidate for political office. The IRS can revoke a charity or religious organization's tax exempt status for engaging in prohibited partisan politicking.
However, many pastors have been doing this for years without repercussions. Generally, the IRS investigates if someone files a complaint with them. With the messages being disseminated to a larger group of people on the web, the likelihood that the message will be heard by an individual who feels that message violates the IRS prohibition against electioneering increases.
According to the New York Times, Atlah World Ministries in Harlem is being investigated because a video of its Pastor, James David Manning, making derogatory comments about Barack Obama appeared on the church's website and on YouTube. In addition to the derogatory comments about Senator Obama, "Mr. Manning praised Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton and her husband, the former president, for bringing economic vitality to Harlem, but called Mr. Obama the candidate of 'irresponsibility and unaccountability'." As a result of the YouTube video, Americans United for the Separation of Church and State filed a complaint with the IRS.
The IRS has also launched other high profile investigations as a result of information that came to light on the web. They are currently investigating Bill Keller, a Florida televangelist who preached that a presidential vote for former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, a Mormon, was "a vote for Satan." This sermon came to light because the sermon was posted on Keller's website. Also, Americans United filed a complaint against Cornerstone Church in Madison, Tennessee asserting that the Pastor violated federal tax law during a sermon in which the Pastor endorsed three School Board candidates from the pulpit. Americans United was made aware of the incident because the sermon was posted on the Church's website and, as a result, a local newspaper published the comments.
The Alliance Defense Fund, a conservative organization, is fighting back against the IRS by arranging "Pulpit Free Sunday" on September 28, in which clergy members will violate IRS rules by preaching sermons that promote or oppose political candidates.
Posted by Lateefah Williams
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