Posted on 01/21/2006 12:03:36 AM PST by freepatriot32
COLUMBUS, Ohio — A group of religious leaders from nine denominations have accused two evangelical churches of improperly promoting an Ohio candidate for governor and want the Internal Revenue Service to investigate.
The 31 leaders from central Ohio met on Jan. 15 and signed a letter asking the IRS to determine if the churches should lose tax-exempt status because of their support for Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell, one of three Republicans seeking the nomination.
The Rev. Rod Parsley of World Harvest Church in Columbus and the Rev. Russell Johnson of Fairfield Christian Church in Lancaster improperly used their churches and affiliated entities for partisan politics, the complaint to the IRS says.
"If they don't want to be a tax-exempt organization, they can go and do and say whatever they want," Rabbi Harold Berman of Temple Tifereth Israel in Columbus said on Jan. 16. "But if you do want to take advantage of the tax benefits that are granted to churches and synagogues, then I think you need to follow the rules."
The two churches defended their actions, saying their efforts were not politically motivated.
A statement from World Harvest Church on Jan. 16 called the ministers bringing the complaint "left-leaning" and said they had "what appears to be a political agenda."
"Had they come to us directly, as people of faith are instructed to do in Scripture, they could have saved themselves a lot of time and embarrassment," the World Harvest statement read.
The Christian and Jewish clergy who brought the complaint said they were acting individually and not on behalf of their congregations.
Meanwhile on Jan. 17, Blackwell said the clergy who had complained to the IRS were trying to unfairly pressure the churches.
"You tell those 31 bullies that you aren't about to be whupped," Blackwell told a Jan. 17 luncheon attended by 450 religious leaders. The secretary of state said that "political and social and cultural forces are trying to run God out of the public square."
Blackwell was the only candidate for governor invited to address the event sponsored by the Ohio Restoration Project, led by Johnson.
Johnson accused the complaining pastors of starting a "secular jihad against expressions of faith."
"We are not going away. We will not be intimidated," he said.
The complaint alleges that Blackwell was the only gubernatorial candidate showcased in church-sponsored events conducted by Parsley and Johnson.
Blackwell said that was not true because Columbus Mayor Michael Coleman, a former Democratic gubernatorial candidate, declined an invitation to speak.
The complaint also alleges that the evangelists' voter-registration campaign was done to support Blackwell. The churches "have designated programs to ensure that their voter registration drives target only conservative Christians likely to support a Republican agenda," the complaint said.
"You have a number of churches and charities involved with a number of road trips for Mr. Blackwell, all of which seem to be aimed at gaining him visibility for his political campaign," former IRS supervisor Marcus Owens told The Columbus Dispatch.
Owens, a former director of the IRS tax-exempt division, helped the clergy draft the complaint.
Berman criticized Parsley for having Blackwell speak at a Statehouse rally in November.
"It's one thing to talk about values. It's another thing to stand there with a particular gubernatorial candidate and say, 'This is the person you should vote for because I as your pastor say that you should.'
"Now, people are going to say, 'Well, they didn't say that in so many words,' but I think they came very close, and I think somebody's going to have to determine whether they crossed that line."
Mark Youngkin, a spokesman for Parsley, disputed the voter-registration allegations in an e-mail to the Dispatch, saying the efforts were conducted "without regard to political affiliation."
Johnson told the newspaper that his church and its affiliate, the Ohio Restoration Project, do not support candidates.
"It's sad to see the religious left and the secular left forge an unholy alliance against people of faith," Johnson said. "We have invited people to pray, to serve and to engage, and candidly, we will not be intimidated or bullied by these folks."
Blackwell faces Attorney General Jim Petro and Auditor Betty Montgomery in the Republican primary. His campaign spokesman Gene Pierce declined comment.
The clergy who signed the complaint are affiliated with the American Baptist Churches in the U.S.A.; the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ); the Episcopal Church; the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America; Judaism; the United Church of Christ; the United Methodist Church; Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.); and the Unitarian Universalist Association.
The main issue is not noncompliance with IRS rules. Rather, the two churches are in the process of registering 400,000 new Ohio voters (conservatives).
You sum it up perfectly.
I'm encouraged because Rev. Ron Parsley is not one to back down and he's ready to fight the forces that be. Wish he would drop his tax status, run for office and keep his ministry! When someone has backbone for the truth, he's needed everywhere.
The editor of the Unitarian Bible would have taken up arms against any government tyrant trying to silence the voice of the church. Thomas Jefferson who wrote the Unitarian {Jefferson} Bible called the Bible the cornerstone For American liberty.
They indeed can but this is a government whom places itself above GOD unlike those who formed our government in the first place. Our overlords {both parties} in DC aren't the least bit interested in our religious freedom they are interested in power. The thing they fear the most is We The People being united and calling for an accountable government. Silencing the pulpit is but one of their weapons and Woe to the church who signed onto the Bush Faith Based Programs. Their Master will be the government and it's gospel and not the Lords will then be preached in their church pulpits.
Gore, Osama Obama, Jackson, the list goes on...
Yes, Yes, Shrillary (Napoleon, Her 'FAT' Thighness) Knows ALL about the Liberal Plantation (ANIMALFARM :)...Look @ all thses SHEEP (No explanation, needed here :) "Braying/Bleating" (YES, WE LOVE YOU/OBEY YOU) on her Handlers' (The Mad Dog Pack) Clue....feel free to add your own similar observations; 1984, Aminal Farm...or otherwise. :D
I agree...that said.
IMHO, "the Race Baiter's/'Rat Party Organizers; would hate to lose that "fig leaf" of convenient...to bash anyone who show "the light of truth" on their many Illicit Enterpizes...they would ask, "Why Rock the Boat/Shake the tree?"
Good point.
"A group of religious leaders Communist ChristianINOs from nine denominations"
Right! I have never seen anyone request the IRS to review the status of all the churches that Klinton and other liberal-socialists speak in.
I'd like to think the GOP is different. Maybe not.
The GOP left Judge Roy Moore hanging out to dry for it's own political expedience. And I have to call the Bush Faith Based Programs one of the worst & most dangerous for the church ideas he ever conceived. His heart was likely right I'm not judging that. But what government pays money to it controls. It is turning the voice of the pulpit which by our Constitution can not be censored nor restricted to just that a church controlled by the state. That is the violation the founders were worried about.
Having 5000 Christians placing Bibles in the public places did not concern them in the least. It was Washington himself who started the Hand on Bible swearing in tradition. It is not a requirement for office {but an oath is} it was Washington's own choice.
I hope they're working on it! HR 3799 Constitutional Restoration Act.
All churches should do that. You accept the benefits from the State (tax-exempt status) you play by their rules. It may not be right, but it's the way it is.
We can thank Lyndon Johnson for turning over a common-law Constitutional right and turning it into a statutory right that can be denied by non-elected government entities.
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