Fundies Preach Politics Night And Day. A Liberal Church Opposes The War

[DistressedAmerican]

and immediately their tax exempt status is under attack by the IRS.

Fucking hypoctites.
====================================================

http://www.cnn.com/2005/POLITICS/11/07/antiwar.sermon.ap/index.html

-SNIP-
Church: Anti-war sermon imperils tax status
Officials say IRS has warned church over pre-election message

Monday, November 7, 2005; Posted: 9:30 p.m. EST (02:30 GMT)

LOS ANGELES, California (AP) -- The Internal Revenue Service has warned a prominent liberal church it could lose its tax-exempt status because of an anti-war sermon a guest preacher gave on the eve of the 2004 presidential election, church officials say.

The Rev. George F. Regas did not urge parishioners at All Saints Episcopal Church in Pasadena to support either President Bush or John Kerry, but he was critical of the Iraq war and Bush's tax cuts.

The IRS warned the church in June that its tax-exempt status was in jeopardy because such organizations are prohibited from intervening in political campaigns and elections.

[lonestarnot]

1. Faith based initiative, that's how it works, you know.

lack of faith in war, lack of tax exemption status... LOL

[long_green]

2. That church should be taxed...

ALL churches should be taxed. I hope All Saints gets reamed and that their misfortune prompts a bunch of lawsuits that put every fundamentalist church in the land on trial.

[DistressedAmerican]

4. I Do Not Like Tax Exempt Status At All. But, I Do Not Feel Strongly About

it.

However, when it is openly used as a tool to silence one side while the other is in far greater violation, I get pissed off.

The hypocracy of the manuever is worthy of the administration itself.

[FreedomAngel82]

5. For preaching a message against war?

They weren't doing anything political as I understand it. Just preaching a message against war and pro-peace as Jesus was pro-peace: "turn the other cheek" and "love thy neighbor as thyself". Now if they were preaching an anti-George Bush message than maybe. But they weren't telling people who to vote for or what to vote for etc. like other churches. They weren't passing out literature, especially lit that lied about canidates either.

[long_green]

8. No, I didn't say that All Saints should be taxed...

because of the message contained in the sermon. I said they should be taxed because all churches should be taxed. I don't disagree with what you said, I was just hoping that the persecution of this Episcopal church would lead to an uprising of all decent churches in this country AGAINST the preferential treatment given out by this administration to "Christian" churches who preach hatred.

[zanne]

9. I know what you mean.

The only way changed can be affected these days is through the courts, which is why Republicans are trying to get control of them.

[waiting for hope]

6. Organized Religion is a "BUSINESS"

and like all business' - they need to be taxed....how many upstanding good preachers/ministers have you seen driving a second hand car or living in a home that is below his congregation's standard of living? Tammy Fayes's cost of makeup alone could feed a family for a year.... :nopity:

[FreedomAngel82]

3. I hope they fight

these assholes hard. There are plenty of churches in Ohio who were bribed by Bush/Cheney reps to tell their congregation to vote for Bush and than that church in North Carolina.

[Union Thug]

7. All churches should be taxed.

All the hype about endorsing this or that is smoke. THey all (with perhaps very rare exceptions) endorse candidates and political positions in one way or another.

[JAbuchan08]

10. Just avoid preaching the message of the "Prince of Peace"

and you should be OK

[kweerwolf]

11. Churches like to attack others for wanting "special rights"

But when it comes right down to it, churches are the biggest "special rights" whores around. They don't pay taxes, but feel they should be able to tell people how to vote. You cannot discriminate against anyone on the basis of their religion, but they certainly practice discrimination against groups.

Organized religion, as it is practiced today, is the biggest racket around.

[RethugAssKicker]

12. What about the Rethug churches!!

They are the biggest violators of them all... What fucking hypocracy!

What about Falwell, Dobson, Robertson churches.... These are the most political bastards there are... yet their churches are tax exempt!

This is obviously partisian.