Posted on 11/22/2003 12:36:29 AM PST by Jean S
WASHINGTON (AP) - Mixing preaching with politics, several liberal and moderate religious leaders have started a political group to oppose President Bush's re-election and policies.
The Clergy Leadership Network will help churches, temples and mosques develop voter registration programs, run its own get-out-the-vote drives and, if it has enough money, air issue ads, said the Rev. Albert Pennybacker, the group's president and chief executive. He is former president of the Interfaith Alliance.
The group, which includes Jews, Muslims and Christians, will counter the conservative voice of Christian groups such as the Christian Coalition, said Pennybacker, who belongs to the Disciples of Christ, a Protestant denomination.
Network leaders stop short of saying they want a Democrat in the White House after next year's elections, but make it clear they want a change in leadership, including the president and the Republican-controlled Congress.
"I'm a born-again, Bible-believing, corn bread-craving Texan. And I feel obliged to say that because there's a carpetbagger in the White House," the Rev. James Dunn, a Baptist, said in referring to Bush, a former Texas governor. Dunn and Pennybacker were among network members describing the new group at a news conference Friday.
The network contends the administration has interfered in the separation of church and state through programs such as its "faith-based initiative." The program offers federal money to religious organizations for work with the homeless and drug and alcohol addicts.
The group also is critical of Bush's foreign policy, which it contends consists largely of bullying other countries, and of his economic policy, which it argues rewards the wealthy at the expense of children and families.
The group's initial budget is $300,000 to $400,000 but could become much larger. Wealthy individuals already have expressed interest in donating, Pennybacker said, declining to name them. It won't accept church funds, organizers said. By giving to the group, churches, mosques and temples could endanger their tax-exempt status.
The group is asking donors to give $25 to join. It also is open to collecting corporate, union and large individual donations, known as soft money.
The network is registering with the Internal Revenue Service as a political organization. It can use its soft money only on non-candidate-specific activities such as get-out-the-vote drives.
It also has a political action committee that will collect limited individual and political action committee contributions. It can spend those to support or oppose specific candidates.
Pennybacker said the group won't endorse candidates, though members may on their own. It plans to steer clear of controversial issues, such as abortion rights and gay rights, that tend to divide religious groups, organizers said.
Christian Coalition president Roberta Combs, a Bush supporter, said she takes the group's wish to be the coalition of the left as a compliment.
"It shows we've been doing our job for the last 13 years," Combs said. "We've been effective in the political process, we've been effective in the legislative process."
The Christian Coalition reports to the IRS as a tax-exempt social welfare organization. It uses its money for a variety of activities, including widely distributed election-year voter guides describing how members of Congress voted on issues that the group has taken positions on.
Combs said the coalition is looking at establishing a soft-money political organization so it could participate more in election activities.
The coalition is an influential player in Republican politics. It has spent more than $1 million this year lobbying on legislation, including proposals on home schooling and bans on late-term abortion and human cloning.
AP-ES-11-22-03 0309EST
These are divisive among religious groups? I don't think so. These issues divide the religious groups from the irreligious, it seems.
Bapist of the same ilk as Carter and Clinton no doubt.
Mosques? Strange bed fellows indeed.
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