Posted on 09/16/2006 9:47:35 PM PDT by SandRat
IRS wants all 2004 election year documents and e-mails it produced talking about political candidates (it's a major uberLIBERAL church).
Because its FOX you'll have to go to the source to read the story.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
Somebody is in trouble.........
I now return you to reality.
You mean those that brought the likes of Clinton, Kerry and Jesse Jackson into the pulpits for electioneering? Naw, the IRS was out to lunch when these happened.
Yup. And the Justice Department was buying.
LOL!
Church tax-exempt status is supposed to guarantee freedom from government interference, but the government now uses it to extort silence from the pulpit. Whatever their politics, the clergy have the right of free speech. The congregations can figure out who they want to listen to.
Bump
When I was a kid growing up in America, people went to church to worship God.
...Memories....
What took so them so long? This should be question in every pulpit in America. If they are "preaching politics" they should loose their tax-exempt status immediately if not retroactively and pay up their back taxes. Should help out the accounting and tax-preparation business immensely. How about that Jessie High Jackson and Al Sharpton running around preaching from the pulpits about who to elect - HUH? Everyone of those churches should be investigated by the IRS. No way elections can be UNDONE, but their Tax Exempt status can certain be UNDONE. "FEAR THIS" liberal weinies!!!
about time these lefties learn their actions have consequnces.
disturbing...........
isn't the gop dominated government supposed to be the leadership of ethics and virtue?
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA - sorry, I know, my bad
"Church tax-exempt status is supposed to guarantee freedom from government interference"
Not quite. It allows churches to operate tax free but at a cost, no politics.
"Whatever their politics, the clergy have the right of free speech"
They have free speech rights. Let them give up their tax exempt status and they can preach whatever they want from their pulpit. Churches accept these limitations when they apply for tax exempt status. They know the rules before they sign up.
That's right. It should be noted that although the tax exempt status is a BIG stick to use to keep a church away from politics, IT IS A SINGLE USE WEAPON. If a church's tax exempt status is revoked, the church cannot be further penalized and it is now free to get involved in politics. If an administration does such a thing, it is likely that the preacher will be in his pulpit denouncing the administration and urging the congregation to vote against the party in power. It is very much a two-edged sword!
And that preacher will either lose a 1/3 to a 1/2 of his flock, or he'll literally be "preaching to the choir".
Exactly. If the church is truly behind its principles, dropping the tax exempt status would not be a second thought. But mega churches don't wish to pay taxes. They want to be tax free and get involved in politics....can't have that cake and eat it too.
Harold Ford has a campaign commercial running right now that is set inside an empty church. If it's just a set, that's one thing, but if an active church allowed him to use the building for his campaign ad, I think that crosses the line as well.
Liberals in the past few years have posed that all churches in the United States should lose their tax-exempt status. Therefore, allowing all churches to use houses of Worship to become mini-platforms for political positioning. And not be prosecuted thereby.
I disagree fully with you on banning political speech, or any word thereby in a House of Worship. And I disagree on forcing churches, whether liberal or traditional, to lose their tax-exempt status. Or are now, the liberal Democrats fully in Charge of What a church is for, what it does, what it stands for?
No. This liberty shall not be lost.
Liberals fought for and won the McCain-Feingold Act.
And this is just one such repercussion from BAD LAW.
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