Tulsa World: Pastors reported to IRS for political sermons

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Pastors reported to IRS for political sermons

By The Associated Press
Published: 10/2/2008 7:45 PM
Last Modified: 10/2/2008 7:45 PM

OKLAHOMA CITY -- A group that promotes the separation of church and state reported to the Internal Revenue Service on Thursday two Oklahoma City-area pastors who endorsed presidential hopeful John McCain during sermons on Sunday.

Dan Fisher, the pastor of Trinity Baptist Church in Yukon, and Paul Blair, pastor of Fairview Baptist Church in Edmond, were among 33 pastors in 22 states who participated in Pulpit Freedom Sunday, an effort orchestrated by the Arizona-based Alliance Defense Fund.

The group of Christian attorneys encouraged pastors to make pointed recommendations about political candidates from the pulpit and vowed to defend any whose church's tax-exempt status was threatened.

On Thursday, the Washington D.C.-based Americans United for Separation of Church and State said it reported both Oklahoma pastors to the Internal Revenue Service for violating federal tax law.

"The purpose of a church is to tend to people's spiritual needs, not behave like a political action committee," said Robert Boston, a spokesman for the group. "The provision is very clear that there may be no endorsement or opposition to candidates by nonprofit organizations."

Boston said comments made by both Fisher and Blair about their sermons were reported to the IRS.

An IRS spokesman said he couldn't comment on individual investigations but that the agency is aware of Sunday's initiative.

Fisher said about 1,250 parishioners who attended his service on Sunday gave him a standing ovation when he told them that he believes Christians cannot, in good faith, vote for Barack Obama and must cast their votes in favor of John McCain.

"It's not that they were applauding my eloquence," he said. "They were applauding the fact that maybe for the first time in a long time they have a leader who is willing to speak his mind."

Fisher said his sermon focused on three themes important to Christians — prohibiting same-sex marriages and abortion and appointing conservative judges to the U.S. Supreme Court. While he said he believes his church won't lose its tax-exempt status, he said that was a risk he was willing to take.

"I'm convinced that the freedom to speak is worth more than tax-free status," Fisher said. "If we have to give up one or the other, and we certainly hope we don't, we'd be more willing to give up the tax-exempt status than lose our free speech.

"We don't believe that individual Americans should be muzzled."

Blair said he believes Barack Obama is the most liberal member of Congress and told about 300 parishioners at his church Sunday that he was casting his vote for McCain.

"I told our congregation that when I place my ballot in the box in November, I, as an American, will be voting for Sen. McCain and not Sen. Obama," Blair said.

Blair said he believes the ban on political activity by a church is unconstitutional and should be challenged in court.

"I don't cease to be a citizen when I step into the pulpit. I don't lose my constitutional rights when I step into the pulpit."

Under the IRS code, places of worship can distribute voter guides, run nonpartisan voter registration drives and hold forums on issues, among other things. However, they cannot endorse a candidate, and their political activity cannot be biased for or against a candidate, directly or indirectly.

The ban on churches intervening in candidate campaigns survived a court challenge when a U.S. appellate court upheld the revocation of tax-exempt status of a New York church that took out a newspaper ad urging Christians to vote against Bill Clinton in the 1992 presidential election.

The ADF said the goal of its initiative was to have the IRS ban, often called the Johnson Amendment, declared unconstitutional.

"ADF will oppose any attempt by the IRS to use the Johnson Amendment to remove a church's tax-exempt status because a pastor exercised his constitutional right to engage in religious speech from the pulpit," ADF attorney Erik Stanley said in a statement. "IRS rules don't trump the Constitution." By The Associated Press

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	Report Comment R.D. 01, (10/2/2008 9:54:05 PM) " A group of Christian Attorneys" My God do they make those kind of attorneys? I didn't know they existed! You must be joking!
	Report Comment stever, (10/2/2008 10:06:55 PM) Our forefathers came to the Americas to escape the corrupt rule of religion. It seems once again some churches are forgetting their calling. There is one leader to support and that is God. Anyone in the USA who supports a political party from the pulpit deserves the wrath that will surely follow. There is a reason that Jesus turned the tables of the money changers in the temple ...
	Report Comment KJNOKIE, TULSA (10/2/2008 10:30:47 PM) What about divorce? And adultery?
	Report Comment oldrustytulsa, Tulsa (10/2/2008 10:32:12 PM) And the same Goes for any Black majority church that stands out for Obama.
	Report Comment NEOkie, (10/5/2008 5:35:43 PM) Don't you know that Christians don't want to hear sermons about divorce and adultry? That would be stepping on too many toes. On the other hand, there probably weren't any Muslims in the congregaton. We've come a long way from the teachings of Jesus Christ, who, to the best of my knowledge, was not a member of any Christian demonination. And, don't you love all those so-called Christians who seem to think that Americans are God's special chosen people? A little more serious Bible study and a little less Bible thumping might help......

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