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PHOTOS STORIES WASHINGTON As one pastor resigned this week amid a firestorm over the r ole of politics in his Baptist church, a US congressman continues to t ry to make it easier for religious leaders and their congregations to en gage in partisan political activity on the church's time and dime.
search) in North Carolina on Tuesday after nine members accused him of leading other members to push them out because th ey didn't agree with his pro-Republican views. Chandler has denied claims that the nine were voted out because of their political views, but his detractors said they were tired of his politica lly-flavored sermons and claimed that he was intent on politicizing the church, even calling on members who supported Democrat John Kerry in the 2004 presidential election to "repent or resign." While the North Carolina case may appear extreme, it touches on a long-st anding debate over whether religious leaders and members of a church can use houses of worship and church resources to engage in partisan activi ty. Current law dictating tax-exempt organizations, including churches, says they may not. However, a Republican lawmaker says proposed changes to th at law are gaining momentum on Capitol Hill.
search) of North Carolina, who for the fourth time has introduced a bill relaxi ng restrictions on political speech in churches. The six-term representative said the political climate has become more am enable to changes because of concern over gay marriage and other hot-but ton political issues that have mobilized Christian conservatives across the country. Jones' bill, the "Houses of Worship Free Speech Restoration Act of 2005," introduced in January, is now before the House Ways and Means Committee .
search) to allow religiou s organizations and houses of worship to engage in "religious free exerc ise and free speech activities" without violating their tax-exempt statu s as nonprofit groups. They would still be bound by campaign finance law s that restrict tax-exempt groups, however. Currently, tax-exempt organizations cannot engage in partisan activity, i ncluding direct endorsements or opposition to particular candidates. Thi s has been interpreted by the Internal Revenue Service to prohibit such speech from the pulpit, in mailings and other literature paid for by the church and representing the church, and other activities clearly signal ing a preference by the church for one candidate over the other. Jones and the bill's supporters, which include a host of conservative and Evangelical Christian churches and organizations, say religious leaders had the right to express political preferences and engage in direct end orsement of candidates from the pulpit before 1954, when the current law went into effect.
Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life poll found Americans sharply divided over whether they wante d their religious leaders to get directly involved in politics. Critics of the bill, who have been largely successful in foiling Jones' p revious efforts, said giving tax breaks to churches who endorse or denou nce specific candidates violates the doctrine of separation of church an d state and is unfair to other nonprofits that are bound by the same res trictions.
MAINstream Coalition, a K ansas-based nonprofit dedicated to "preserving constitutional freedoms w hich are threatened by political extremists." McKnight said her group began monitoring congressional efforts to change the law after a local Baptist church was questioned for distributing vot er guides endorsing specific candidates last year. "It's part of a concerted effort to use churchgoers for politics," she sa id of Jones' bill. "Either you believe that a church should be inviolate from these kinds of political activities or you prefer, that in the four weeks leading up t o the primaries or the general election, not to hear a sermon, but to he ar how to vote.
search) in upstate New York had its status revoke d after sponsoring a newspaper ad calling for the defeat of presidential candidate Bill Clinton in 1992. Complaints and investigations are more commonplace and often target churc hes on both sides of the ideological spectrum.
The group said the church was in violation of IRS law when it allowed Dem ocratic presidential candidate John Kerry and Rev. Al Sharpton to make t heir pitch for Kerry to the predominantly black congregants during an Au gust service. The pastor had introduced Kerry as "the next president of the United States."
search) violated the law when he sent parishioners a letter setting forth a litmus test for politicians seeking the Catholic vote. The complaint charged the letter pressured parishioners to vote Re publican.
He said he opposes IRS guide lines that constitute "code words" like "abortion" and "pro-life" as pol itical speech. He added, however, that he doesn't agree that pastors ought to be endorsi ng specific candidates. "I don't believe that unfettered political comme ntary would be in the best interest of the church." But supporters of Jones' bill are growing, an aide in his office said. Opponents add that the bill would give churches and organizations a back- door for political fund-raising, though Jones said he has included langu age underscoring that the new law would not free entities from campaign finance laws that limit contributions to candidates. On the other hand, Murray said his group doesn't like the campaign financ e language because it could serve to stifle speech even more. He said hi s group will hold off support for Jones' bill until it is modified. Sources from the House Ways and Means Committee said no schedule is set t o take up Jones' bill. The most recent House vote on Jones' proposal cam e in 2002, at which time it was defeated 239 to 178, with 46 Republicans voting against it. "This is one of those issues where it is hard for me to say it's going to happen, but it's also hard to say it's not going to happen," he said.
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