CHURCHES, POLITICS AND THE IRS

Church & State, Sep 2006 by Boston, Rob

In a speech capturing headlines in June, U.S. Sen. Barack Obama (D-IlL), a rising Democratic star, urged his party not to be afraid to embrace religion. Obama scolded the party for failing to "acknowledge the power of faith in the lives of the American people." He urged Democrats to compete for the support of "religious Amencans and tell them what we stand for."

Obama expressed support for the principle of church-state separation and did not urge politicking in churches. But his call for a coordinated, party-wide outreach to religious voters, if acted on, is bound to have implications for houses of worship. The temptation to reach religious voters through churches is hard for many candidates to resist.

At the same time, Republicans are eager to duplicate electoral successes they had in 2004 by exploiting same-sex marriage bans that will appear in seven states this year. In 2004, many GOP House and Senate candidates piggy-backed on the issue, hoping that religious conservatives who turned out for the ballot question would also pull a lever for Republicans.

Complicating matters is that Parsley and Johnson clearly see their Ohio experiment as a model for the nation. Whether they succeed in electing Blackwell or not, they are likely to try exporting it to other states.

Parsley has already launched two Religious Right groups of his own, Reformation Ohio and the Center for Moral Clarity (CMC), and is eager for a tryout on the national stage. In July, he sent an email to CMC supporters bragging about a recent visit to Washington, D.C. While there, Parsley attended a pro-Israel rally with other Religious Right leaders and was invited to attend a White House ceremony during which Bush vetoed a bill authorizing tax funding for stem-cell research. Parsley concluded the report by thanking his supporters for giving him "the opportunity to speak truth to power in Washington, D.C.!"

The complicated dynamic means Americans United and its allies will be busy urging religious leaders to safeguard the integrity of their pulpits by rejecting calls to engage in partisan political activity.

"There are appropriate ways for religion and politics to interact, but church-based partisan politicking and pulpit endorsements are not among them," said AU's Lynn. "It's time for religious leaders and office-seekers to respect the law and not allow our houses of worship to become cogs in someone's political machine."