Americans United Asks IRS to Investigate Los Angeles Church That ‘Tweeted’ Candidate to Victory

[and-justice-for-all]

May 19, 2010

Church’s Use Of Web Site And Twitter To Endorse Candidate Violates Federal Tax Law, Watchdog Group Says

Americans United for Separation of Church and State has asked the Internal Revenue Service to investigate a Los Angeles church that used its Web site and the social networking site Twitter to urge congregants to support a candidate for public office.

Oasis Church posted a statement on its Web site noting that a church official, Alex Jones-Moreno, was seeking reelection to the Greater Wilshire Neighborhood City Council. It asked church members to vote for Jones-Moreno.

“Oasis Church’s appeals might have been innovative, but they still violate the law,” said the Rev. Barry W. Lynn, executive director of Americans United. “Federal law bars churches and other tax-exempt non-profits from electioneering. The IRS should crack down on these troubling tweets.”

In advance of the election, the church Web site said, “Did you know the Neighborhood City Council Elections are May 13th? Our very own Alex Jones-Moreno, Director of Social Justice, is running for reelection? We are asking everyone who attends, serves, gives or is a part of Oasis Church to please cast your vote for Alex Jones-Moreno during the upcoming elections. Having Alex elected will help us better serve our community. Being a part of the Neighborhood City Council is extremely important as we continue to grow and look to secure a future venue for our church family.”

more: http://www.au.org/media/press-releases/archives/2010/05/au-asks-irs-to-investigate.html

[babylonsister]

1. AMEN! nt

[Angry Dragon]

2. Let them pay taxes if they want to have a say in the secular world

[gratuitous]

3. That's not how it works - please read the law

But an endorsement of a named candidate is indeed illegal, and this church should be punished.

[Angry Dragon]

4. I thought they could lose their tax status over that

[patrice]

5. They can advocate on issues. They can't support a candidate, which is, apparently, what this

church did.

[Angry Dragon]

6. Thank you for the information

[patrice]

7. Problem is, and I know people who have seen this here locally, during a campaign,

they do lessons that equate a stance on a certain issue with a particular candidate and, of course, talk about how certain stances on the issues are EVIL and others are "god's work" etc. etc. So they DO advocate for particular candidates by talking about their moral position on this issue or that.

There was one election cycle here a few years ago in which the Republican candidate for Attorney General bragged in the media about how much money he was receiving from churches. Nothin' ever came of it.