E-mail Campaign Appeal To Religious Groups Decried (More Liberal Media Religion Bashing)

The Seattke Times ^ | 6/4/04 | Carol Eisenberg

[KentTrappedInLiberalSeattle]

The Bush-Cheney campaign is reaching out to thousands of religious congregations in an effort to build a network that would register voters and distribute information on behalf of President Bush.

The solicitation, brought to light in an e-mail sent Tuesday from Bush headquarters in Pennsylvania, immediately was decried by liberal groups as "an astonishing abuse of religion" that could cost cooperative churches their tax-exempt status.

But it also underscored the pivotal role religion is expected to play in this year's presidential race, with Republicans intent on motivating voters concerned about such issues as gay marriage, abortion and school vouchers.

The e-mail from the Bush campaign's Pennsylvania office said it was seeking to "identify 1600 'Friendly Congregations' in Pennsylvania where voters friendly to President Bush might gather on a regular basis." Recipients were asked if they would serve as "a coordinator in your place of worship."

"To accept the invitation of this e-mail is to open a door that leads rather rapidly into many different kinds of illegal cooperation between a religious organization and a partisan political campaign," said the Rev. C. Welton Gaddy, president of The Interfaith Alliance, a liberal group that represents more than 75 faith traditions. "Whether or not this is legal, this is an astonishing abuse of religion. It is the rawest form of manipulation of religion for partisan gain."

Religious organizations are prohibited from direct partisan involvement or distributing statements on behalf of any candidate, but are permitted to register voters and engage in educational efforts.

A spokesman for the Bush campaign headquarters in Virginia denied that the e-mail jeopardized groups' nonprofit status or violated the constitutional separation between church and state.

"People of faith have as much a right to participate in the political process as any other community," spokesman Kevin Madden said. "The intent of this e-mail was to seek individual volunteers who are supportive of this president, and to continue building a grass-roots network throughout the country."

[Prime Choice]

immediately was decried by liberal groups as "an astonishing abuse of religion" that could cost cooperative churches their tax-exempt status.

Sure...just like the First AME church risks its tax-exempt status every time it props up a Democrat.

Would someone please tell those jackasses to cram it where the sun don't shine? I've had enough of their blatant hypocrisy.

[Just mythoughts]

This is a hoot. Liberals as the "we are gods" religion can't go shoulder to shoulder to the "God" of the Conservatives. Maybe the liberals "we are gods" is taking a potty break.


Boy how they cry like stuck pigs when their protected "right" of free speech get a subpoena.

[xzins]

In South Florida, Kerry lashes Bush diplomacy

Appearing on TV and making speeches in Miami and Coral Gables, John Kerry calls President Bush's Iraq policy 'stunningly ineffective' and faults him on Cuba.

BY DAVID OVALLE AND JENNIFER MOONEY PIEDRA

dovalle@herald.com

John Kerry brought his campaign to South Florida on Sunday, stumping for votes at a church in Miami and a rally in Coral Gables. On national television, he called President Bush's foreign policy ''stunningly ineffective'' and said it is not working in Iraq or Cuba.

Kerry's appearances kicked off his third trip to Florida since he effectively secured the Democratic nomination. He is making a three-day swing through the battleground state.

Later in the week, Bush also will campaign in Florida, traveling to the state for the 21st time since becoming president.

But Sunday was Kerry's day in South Florida.

It started with an appearance on Meet the Press televised from the WTVJ-NBC 6 studio in Miramar, continuing in Miami at the Ebenezer United Methodist Church in Brownsville and ending with a rally at the University of Miami in Coral Gables and a private fundraiser in Palm Beach County.

While Kerry's TV comments on Iraq drew the most attention nationwide, his brief remarks on Cuba and the United States' embargo against business with the island likely will be scrutinized in South Florida. (Above article approx April 19 or 20.)

[KentTrappedInLiberalSeattle]

John Kerry's true, instinctive reaction to nearby proximity of a cross:

:)

[xzins]

Actually, it'd be sorta cool to have a picture of Kerry with Vampire teeth recoiling from a Catholic cross that says abortion, gay marriage, Papal sanction

[xzins]

The vampire Kerry picture would fit nicely in contrast with President Bush giving the Pope the medal of freedom.

[alwaysconservative]

I totally agree, and you said it better than I would have done.

[MeekOneGOP]

bump !

[abclily]

All this negative press from the liberal media, but it's OK for the liberal politicians to preach politics from church pulpits. Liberals are so shallow-brained they can't recognize their own hypocrisy.....but the voters recognize their hypocrisy.....and we recognize their lack of intelligence to boot.

[maica]

I've had enough of their blatant hypocrisy.
*****

They are getting so blatant that they can no longer play the "but that's different" card. They are getting hysterically (in the psychiatric sense) frantic in this election, and 'moderate' Americans are beginning to notice how unstable and untrustworthy they are.

[arthurus]

If it can be proved that members of particular churches have voted in an election then those churches obvioussly must lose their tax-free status. Churches whose members are predominantly of Protected Groups are, of course, exempt.