[Cedar]

Since the ACLU is watching the conservative churches for activity, I guess this is only equal treatment.

But the sad part is government (IRS) now has control of churches (and what is preached). This is no better than China's policy!

Christian churches need to forget about their non-profit status and give it up-- so they can continue to preach freely and not be told by the government what to preach or not preach.

[GeronL]

BIG BUMP

[ladyinred]

Tit for Tat so to speak. Amazing how the democrats go campaign from the pulpit, ala Clinton/Gore, yet scream bloody murder if a Republican so much as visits a Christian college. Good for this new group!

[LiteKeeper]

SPOTREP

[Politicalmom]

www.RatOutaChurch.org ??

Is this for real??

[dufekin]

In the world of the Democratic Party, to which all shrill Lawyers belong, Churches are permitted without penalty to promote Democracy, which is defined as Communism, Treason, Feticide, and the Political Party that expouses these ideals, the Democratic Party.

According to the Schedule of Emanations and Penumbras to the United States Constitution, no Speech, Religion, Political Advertisement, or Book are Constitutionally prohibited if it opposes Democracy, as heretofore interpreted. It shall be the Responsibility of the President to enforce this provision by using all necessary force to suppress the promulgation of any Prohibited Speech. If the President defaults on this most solemn obligation, the Obligation shall fall upon the Junior Senator from the Great Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

[ETERNAL WARMING]

Many parishes are too poor to pay the real estate tax. They can't even afford to fix their leaky roofs.

I'm thankful for this organization. In the 2000 elections, I stopped watching TD Jakes because he used his tv air time to host Al Gore. Also on tv, they blatantly call in only Democrats to speak and even pass the plate for contributions to their campaigns.

[Westbrook]

Christian churches need to forget about their non-profit status and give it up-- so they can continue to preach freely and not be told by the government what to preach or not preach.

While I heartily agree that churches should not be beholden to the Government, it would be a violation of the "Free Exercise" clause of the First Amendment for the Government to tax Churches.

For the government to regulate the content of a religious sermon by tax policy, or any other means, is a violation of the "Free Exercise", "Freeedom of Speech", and "the right of the people peaceably to assemble" clauses in the First Amendment.

The government should just BUTT-OUT of churches altogether and keep their tax policies and other points of pressure out of them.

What constitutes a church?

From the words of Jesus in Matthew 18:2, "For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them."

[af_vet_rr]

Regardless of who is watching who, this is pretty pathetic.

Some of those people (on both sides) need to ask themselves the old cliched question - What would Jesus do or want us to do. Would He want us to be watching/spying on other churches, or using our resources to better do His work.

[Clintonfatigued]

"But the sad part is government (IRS) now has control of churches (and what is preached)."

I agree that the necessity of the new group is sad. But isn't that sentence an overstatement? Other than not making political endoresments, churches' doctrines and sermons are not dictated by the feds. For example, look how many are active in the pro-life movement.

[taxesareforever]

It really is sad for Christians that the pulpit will be monitored on what is preached. Granted, the demorats have brought this on just like Kerry brought the Swift boat people to light. However, I do agree with some that churchs should give up tax exempt status in order to keep government out of its pulpits. Then in another situation we see the pro-life movement and the NEA get tax exempt status and they certainly aren't chastised for there endorsements. But churchs need to remain churchs without government interference,therefore, remove the tax exempt status or the message from the pulpit will be monitored and used against them.(Memories of KGB)?

[ScuzzyTerminator]

I'd love to volunteer, but no way could I walk through the doors of a Metropolitan Community "church" without barfing...

[fly_so_free]

I can see that this has to be done-( the libs are sorely need of a taste of their own medicine). But, I would just as soon let the lib churches say what they want and the conservative churhes say what they want.

Did the founding fathers intend that separation of church of state would override the free speech rights of the pastors/priests? Why should a pastor be afraid to discuss political issues? Do we have freedom of religion if the churches live in fear of losing tax exempt status, because of expressing a political opinion?

Did the founding fathers envision "Church Police"?

[Lion Den Dan]

This is great. Are we going to check on mosques too?

[keats5]

I don't like this at all. I don't want any church ratted out, nor do I want any big brother in any church for the sole purpose of discerning tax status. I know there's a double standard, which must be addressed. But not this way.

If a church is a terrorist front, that's a different matter. Terrorist churches plan crimes, and need to be stopped. But if we go down this road, so will the rats. Conservative churches could lose their tax free status speaking against homosexuality or abortion, issues frequently tied to political parties and candidates. Before long, we all get churches which "are neither hot nor cold."

It's tempting to stoop to the rats level, but to preserve our own religious freedom, we need to be the party that speaks out against this.