Posted on The Tennessean-By Bob Smietana, The Tennessean-On October 1, 2011:
““For the past four years, pastors in Nashville and around the country have tried to pick a fight with the Internal Revenue Service.
The IRS has refused to fight back.
The pastors are challenging an IRS ban on endorsing candidates from the pulpit, which is based on rules that forbid nonprofits from taking part in political campaigns. Preachers say the ban violates their rights to free speech and freedom of religion.
“I don’t want anyone censoring what I say in the pulpit,” said the Rev. Henry Coles of World of Faith Christian Center in Nashville, with a congregation of about 400.
Coles is one of 475 preachers nationwide signed up for Pulpit Freedom Sunday this weekend, according to the Alliance Defense Fund, a Christian legal group based in Scottsdale, Ariz., that organized the event. Most will endorse candidates and then send their sermons to the IRS.
If the IRS investigates them, the Alliance Defense Fund will sue.
“The issue of whether the IRS can censor what a pastor says in the pulpit has never been tested in court,” said Erik Stanley, senior legal counsel for the Alliance Defense Fund.
Clergy should think twice before breaking the law, said Barry Lynn, executive director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State.
“Americans attend church for spiritual guidance, not to get a list of candidates to vote for on Election Day,” Lynn said in a statement.
The ban on nonprofit political endorsements dates to the 1950s. Lyndon B. Johnson was mad at nonprofits that opposed his re-election, so “he rammed these rules through to punish his opponents,” said Richard Hammar, editor ofChurch Law and Tax Report.
The IRS has not punished any pastors involved in Pulpit Freedom events. Hammar said both conservative and liberal churches often ignore the ban without consequences.
The Rev. Steve Hickey, pastor of Church at the Gate in Sioux Falls, S.D., is one of 100 preachers who took part in last year’s event. He believes that if a politician holds a position that conflicts with his faith, it’s his job as a preacher to point that out, no matter what the IRS says.
At least four pastors in Middle Tennessee participated last year. The Alliance Defense Fund declined to list who else in the Nashville area was participating this year.
Frank Sommerville, a Dallas-based attorney who advises nonprofits and churches, said the IRS has not investigated any churches since 2009, after a judge ruled that an investigation of a Minnesota megachurch was invalid. The agency must draft new procedures before launching any new church investigations, Sommerville said.
Even when those rules are in place, he doesn’t expect the IRS to tangle with the Alliance Defense Fund.
“The IRS is never going to be baited into a confrontation with a well-funded, well-lawyered organization,” he said.”
- Contact Bob Smietana at 615-259-8228 or bsmietana@tennessean.com.
Source:
Note: The following articles and/or blog posts relate to this disturbing issue-You Decide:
I. Archbishop Warns Obama: You’ll Cause ‘Conflict Between Church and State of Enormous Proportions’!-Posted on CNSNews.com-By Terence P. Jeffrey-On September 29, 2011:
II. Christian Blogger Ordered to Surrender His Guns!-Posted on WND.com-By Joe Kovacs-On September 29, 2011:
http://www.wnd.com/?pageId=349713
III. ObamaCare: "An Assault on Religious Freedom"!-Posted on NewAmerican-By JAMES HEISER-On September 28, 2011:
IV. Vanderbilt University nondiscrimination policy called unfair to religious groups!-Posted on The Tennessean-By Michael Cass and Jennifer Brooks, The Tennessean-On September 27, 2011:
V. Is Prophecy Motivating Fundamentalists to Vote?-Posted on NewAmerican-By JOE WOLVERTON, II-On September 27, 2011:
VI. Moral decline and the end of big ideas!-Posted on The Washington Post-By Francisco Dao-Updated on September 26, 2011:
VII. West Virginia Schools Defend Bible Course Against ACLU!-Posted on Christian Post-By Eryn Sun, Christian Post Reporter-On September 23, 2011:
VIII. Why Christianity is a Religion of Peace and Islam is Not!-Posted on Godfather Politics-By THE GODFATHER-On September 26, 2011:
http://godfatherpolitics.com/1164/why-christianity-is-a-religion-of-peace-and-islam-is-not/
IX. Ex-Muslim Author: Koran Demands ‘Jihad’ & Teaches Believers To ‘Hate’ Christians And Jews!-Posted on The Blaze-By Billy Hallowell-On September 14, 2011:
X. Obama: Screw Easter, Happy Ramadan!-Posted on Floyd Reports-By Ben Johnson, The White House Watch-On August 1, 2011:
http://floydreports.com/obama-screw-easter-happy-ramadan/
XI. Stop Obama’s Attack on Christianity!-Posted on The Patriot Update-By Michael Reagan-On July 16, 2011:
http://patriotupdate.com/articles/stop-obamas-attack-on-christianity
XII. No Separation of Mosque and State!-Posted on NewAmerican-By BRUCE WALKER-On July 12, 2011:
http://www.thenewamerican.com/culture/faith-and-morals/8184-no-separation-of-mosque-and-state
XIII. Liberals, Democrats More Likely to Disbelieve Bible!-Posted on CNSNews.com-By Terence P. Jeffrey-On July 9, 2011:
http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/liberals-democrats-more-likely-disbeliev
XIV. The Great American Awakening!-Posted on MSNBC-By Rep. Jim DeMint-On July 11, 2011:
XV. Obama Wants to Cut God Out of Government!-Posted on Floyd Reports-By Guest Writer-On July 6, 2011:
http://floydreports.com/obama-wants-to-cut-god-out-of-government/
XVI. MSNBC’s Religious Expert Excoriates ‘Radical,’ ‘Theocratic’ Christians Who ‘Hate’ America!-Posted on The Media Research Center-By Scott Whitlock-On July 6, 2011:
http://www.mrc.org/biasalert/2011/20110706051327.aspx
XVII. The Judas Media-Posted on Floyd Reports-Guest Writer-On April 27, 2011:
XVIII. Bible DVDs banned in the UK!-Posted on Blackpool Gazette-On September 27, 2011:
http://www.blackpoolgazette.co.uk/news/local/police_stop_cafe_displaying_bible_passages_1_3811486
XIX. European Politician Calls New Generation To Defend Christianity! -Posted on Business Directory-By George Vogt-On August 4, 2011:
XX. Sarkozy: Mideast Christians victims of 'cleansing': ‘French President makes damning comments following church attacks in Egypt, Iraq.’-Posted on Middle East Online-On January 7, 2011:
http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=43513
Note: My following blog posts contain numerous articles and/or blog posts and videos that relate to this disturbing issue-You Decide:
Faith of Our Forefathers!
http://weroinnm.wordpress.com/2010/05/09/faith-of-our-forefathers/
Godfather of The Islamic Revolution!
http://weroinnm.wordpress.com/2011/02/11/godfather-of-the-islamic-revolution/
Massive Voter Fraud-Again!
http://weroinnm.wordpress.com/2010/10/25/massive-voter-fraud-again/
What is the true intent of the UN Small Arms Treaty?
http://weroinnm.wordpress.com/2010/01/12/what-is-the-true-intent-of-the-un-small-arms-treaty/
What Happened to Free Speech?
http://weroinnm.wordpress.com/2010/10/23/what-happened-to-free-speech/
Have the “power elite” and pseudo-experts covertly sold us corruption disguised as freedom?
Does Europe have a future?
http://weroinnm.wordpress.com/2010/05/09/does-europe-have-a-future/
Is it important to understand the Marxist assault on the foundations of our system?
Note: If you have a problem viewing any of the listed blog posts please copy web site and paste it on your browser. Be aware that some of the articles and/or blog posts or videos listed within the contents of the above blog post(s) may have been removed by this administration because they may have considered them to be too controversial. Sure seems like any subject matter that may shed some negative light on this administration is being censored-What happened to free speech?-You Decide.
“Food For Thought”
God Bless the U.S.A.!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q65KZIqay4E&feature=related
Semper Fi!
Jake
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