Rampage of the Religious Right, volume 300; Pastors to Challenge the IRS over Partisan Politics

[agentS]

Over on Alternet.org is a great article on how a religious law group is pressuring churches to violate IRS tax law by intervening in political campaigns.

<http://www.alternet.org/democracy/89023/?page=entire>

You can read the whole article there. For the sake of discussion, I want you to pay attention to this part;
Cureton’s comment occurred after Folger mentioned that some members of her church were thinking of voting for U.S. Sens. Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton.

“It just seems to me that the messages are somehow not reaching the congregations,” Folger said. “Is it the pastors that need to speak more clearly? What’s the answer?”

“I think that’s the case,” Cureton replied. “The pastors need to speak clearly about it. I’ll tell you we are working with the Alliance Defense Fund on a series of sermons this fall for pastors to preach, so that they educate their people on the issues.

“We’re gonna be talking about the value of life, the value of family and the value of freedom,” he continued, “basically talking about abortion and stem-cell research and then also about the gay agenda and then finally about our Christian heritage and how it’s being stripped from every corner of society. And then finally we’re gonna be doing a candidate comparison message that is going to ask pastors to cross the line.”

“Really?” said Folger. “What do you mean ‘cross the line’? You’re going to be suggesting they tell people who to vote for?”

Cureton replied, “We’re going to prompt pastors, and say to them that, you know, we really believe that they need to challenge some of the things, some of the thinking that we have going on in our society, which is that separation of church and state doctrine, that we really need to preach the Bible on these issues and apply them to the things that are going on in the culture today.”

Other organizations have indicated they would like to challenge the IRS regulation. Last year, the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty ran a full-page ad in The Wall Street Journal trumpeting the claims of a minister in the Midwest who insisted he had violated the law and challenging the IRS to act. (The ploy turned out to be a publicity stunt to promote a Becket Fund Web site.)

That's right, folks. This is what it's about: brainwashing. The Religious Right, or at least the most hardcore element of the Right, isn't interested in furthering the spiritual development of its members; it wants to keep them voting and contributing to the GOP.
It's not about GOD, they don't believe in the teachings of Jesus. This is their God

and the separation of church and state is their Satan.
Currently, they're trying to find a dupe to take the ball and run with it thru the courts. The article lists one already.

But wait- there's more
“I think very few clergy will yield to the Alliance Defense Fund’s worldly temptation,” Lynn said. “And those who do will find their churches’ tax exemptions in jeopardy. I assume the ADF will provide a list of congregations unwise enough to join this move, and we’ll be ready to report those churches to the IRS.”

Lynn said clergy know they are free to speak out on religious, moral and political issues. But they cannot use tax-exempt resources to support or oppose candidates for public office, which includes statements from the pulpit by church officials and other indications of campaign intervention.
This isn't your local Christian Methodist church with 50 members and 5 staffers doing this; this 'crash the gates' mentality is coming from those super-sized McChurches with highly politicized clergy, tens of thousands of attendees, and even a Starbucks in the church. This isn't about teaching people not to promote abortion, this is about using their religious status to act as de facto fundraisers for GOP coffers, regardless of whether that's the will of the people of their church or not. This is about hijacking a (albeit scummy) political party thru 'bundling' and the church wants to be tax-free religious 'lobbyists' and 'bundlers'.

Kudos to those thousands of churches (liberal or otherwise) who aren't falling for this BS attempt to crash the courts before Obama or McKinney wins in 08.

[jody]

1. "series of sermons" is another phrase for "partisan, political, pulpit propaganda". n/t

[conscious evolution]

2. Sounds more like sedition to me.

[The Doctor.]

3. Of Course Churches should be able to tell their congregations who to vote for...

So long as they pay hefty taxes to the system they're trying to influence.

[agentS]

4. Let me put it in terms of black and white.

Or better yet, in color.


This is what we can expect from the Religious Wrong.

[Prophet 451]

5. Think I'll do a sermon on...

...seperation of church & state and using that to talk about the wonderous variety and complexity of the human experiance.

Granted, I don't have a congregation to preach to and I'm a Luciferian Satanist but I do hold a minister's license and unlike some, I do take it seriously.

The irony here is that virtually everything the Religious Reich preaches is directly counter to the commandments of their professed god. OK, there's some wiggle room about abortion but Jesus clearly endorsed church/state seperation (Matt. 22:21), compassion and tolerance for those who are different (the parable of the Good Samaritan) and moral treatment of the poor (pretty much all of the New Testament). If Jesus's teachings superceded those that came before him (and they actually cared what he said), the Religious Reich would be pushing for poverty reduction programs (Jesus said "the poor will always be with you" but he was very hot on helping them if possible), the seperation of church and state and programs with a message of social integration (for example, PFLAG).

The church has always played a part in society and in politics, simply because most people elected have at least some views on faith but the teachings of Jesus (I'm not Christian but I do have a lot of respect for Jesus) simply don't lead to the views that the Religious Reich hold. And I suspect this is because to them, conservative social and political views have become a religion in their own right. In the same way that Mormonism was an outgrowth of Christianity but distinct enough to qualify as a faith in it's own right, so Christopublicanism (for lack of a better term) is a faith related to but quite distinct from Christianity which reinvents Jesus to be a spokesman for the views they already hold; which places Ronald Reagan as a prophet; which places Atlas Shrugged on the same level as the Bible and holds the Bible as literal history (which it was probably never intended to be, it was probably intended to be a work of philosophy).

[agentS]

6. Christopublicanism

So that's the name of their 'religion'. Witness their 10 commandments
1. Thou shall make war
2. Thou shall ignore or insult the poor
3. Thou shall mislead and confuse the public
4. Thou shall hold thy Lord Reagan's "Free market" not in vain
5. Thou shalt keep thy women in the kitchen where shall they baketh brownies and iron shirts.
6. Rinse and repeat.

[Prophet 451]

7. Pretty much

Instead of their usual claim that theit right-wing social/political values come from the Bible, it's actually the reverse: That they use an extremely creative interpretation of the Bible to justify the highly conservative positions they already hold. Of course, this is a mainly unconscious process (as many such processes are).

From the viewpoint of someone with an interest in history and religion (i.e. me), it's fascinating to observe the creation of a new religion at first hand but from the viewpoint of someone who has to live on this planet, it's deeply troubling.

[KharmaTrain]

8. So They Want To Speak Code Openly?

As if there's no political messages pouring from pulpits right now? Yeah right. A good example is to tune into so-called religious stations, especially those that have "teaching" or talk programs. Be assured the code is being sent out...be very fearful of the black man who is the "most librul" (more code) and who isn't really an "American" (isn't a repugnican). It's being sprayed in many ways but for those tuned in the message comes across really clear. It's masked in "concern" and "inexperience", but the fear card is in play as well as other ones and religious radio is at the forefront, as usual.

Today Dobson let go of a diatribe against Senator Obama...a show that will air on hundreds of stations throughout the day...most non-profit "religious" stations. The GOOP has long used this invisible network to rally its fundie supporters and using the public airwaves to do it.

[spanone]

9. if they want to involve themselves in politics, they can anti-up with taxes

[Dogtown]

10. I'll further a thought

repeated in many posts. They should lose their tax-exempt status.

WHY are these businesses tax-exempt? That's a back-door tax that I'm forced to pay to support their fantasies. I'm not just talking about fundies, this time. They're all ripping us off.

In the cases of the evangelical, shit-disturbing holy-rollers, their followers donate a typical tithe to the church. + the collection plate, building fund, etc.

These cultists can deduct that tithe from their taxes. The business itself receives these tax-free donations. And pays no tax on them. SOMEBODY has to pay taxes, so I have to pick up the slack; eg, I'm paying to support their make-believe.

I wouldn't want to pay for an alcoholic's frolics, I'd refuse to financially support a pimp, why is it ok that I have to support somebodies religious ecstasy?

It's obscene.