CHURCHES, POLITICS AND THE IRS

Church & State, Sep 2006 by Boston, Rob

So far, the 1RS has shown no signs that it intends to buckle under congressional pressure and has issued regular warnings about partisan politicking by non-profits this year right on schedule.

The 1RS has issued similar warnings in the past, but some houses of worship have ignored them and intervened in partisan politics anyway. Will this year be different? There are some signs it might. For one thing, the 1RS could get more outside help this year. Americans United has sponsored Project Fair Play since 1996 and for several years was the only national organization taking a hard look at church-based partisanship. Recently, interest in the issue has grown, and now other organizations have started to take a closer look at the question. Some are filing their own complaints with the tax agency.

In July, an unidentified group in Missouri wrote to the 1RS after the Missouri Catholic Conference appeared to be threatening candidates who support stem-cell research.

Officials with the state Catholic conference sent letters to more than 50 candidates who accepted money from Supporters of Health Research and Treatment, a political action committee that backs using stem cells in medical research. In the letter, the Catholic conference demanded that the candidates return the donations and threatened to list all of the candidates who accepted money from the PAC in Catholic newspapers. Since the church's opposition to stem-cell research is well known, such an action could be construed as campaign intervention.

In the letter, Lawrence A. Weber, executive director of the Missouri Catholic Conference, told the candidates that the conference would report to Catholic newspapers any office-seekers "who choose to associate themselves with this and similar organizations that promote such unethical practices."

Marcus S. Owens, a tax lawyer and former 1RS official, filed a complaint on behalf of an anonymous client. Owens, who headed up the IRS's non-profit division during his time with the tax agency, told The New York Times, "It constitutes illegal political interference."

One incumbent. State Rep. Jim Guest, called the Catholic conference letter a threat and added, "That's certainly stepping across the line."

Meanwhile, Pastor Rick Scarborough, a protégé of the Rev. Jerry Falwell who runs a nascent Religious Right group called Vision America, has joined the fray. In a recent e-mail to supporters. Scarborough asserted that he was surprised to learn that "the leading edge of the culture war had arrived" in Missouri, where voters this November face a ballot referendum on protecting stem-cell research.

Asserting that stem-cell research backers are "engaged in a deception that would have made Adolph [sic] Hitler proud," Scarborough vowed to focus on "mobilizing Pastors of all denominations to fight a well financed campaign of lies and deceptions."

While the church-led efforts in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Texas focus primarily on Republican candidates, the mixing of religion and politics is by no means limited to conservative churches. In recent months, a number of high-profile Democrats have been talking about the need to reach out to religious voters. Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean has called on his party to court evangelicals and even went so far as to make a personal appearance on TV preacher Pat Robertson's "700 Club."