IRS CALLS OUT THE UNITED CHURCH OF CHRIST
Barack Obama addressed the UCC General Synod.
Regular readers of this blog have probably noticed that we are fans of the separation of church and state. Big time. So we should be leading the cheers when the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announces an investigation-with considerable fanfare-of a whole denomination for engaging in forbidden political activity. Right? Not so much.
If the accusation is upheld the denomination could be stripped of its tax exempt status, a penalty of such dire economic consequence that it would probably lead to the demise of the denomination in its current corporate form.
So who is the miscreant? The Southern Baptist Convention, which has made itself a virtual arm of the Republican Party, or at least a rabid portion of that party? The Catholic Church which has suggested that “good Catholics” cannot vote for candidates with proscribed opinions on certain issues and which sometimes threatens-very publicly and in the midst of campaigns-to deny sacraments to candidates who do not toe the line? Nope, although the IRS has investigated at least one Catholic Diocese and individual Baptist churches.
The denomination in question is the United Church of Christ (UCC). The alleged offense? According to an IRS press release, "…reasonable belief exists that the United Church of Christ has engaged in political activities that could jeopardize its tax-exempt status." Wow. That sounds serious. Just what was the prohibited political activity?
On June 23, 2007 Barack Obama, a long time member of a UCC congregation, spoke the 50th Anniversary General Synod in Hartford, Connecticut. He was one of many noted UCC members who were invited to speak about “the intersection of their faith and their respective vocations or fields of expertise.” The invitation was extended to Obama, the UCC member holding the highest public service position, a year before the event when he was not a candidate. The speech was delivered about three months after Obama formally entered the race for the Presidency but eight month before the first caucus votes.
Wait. I’m a big Obama for President supporter. And I am a religious liberal, a vocal member of a Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA) congregation and the UUA is a historical and theological first cousin to the UCC and also a frequent ally in social justice ministry. So it stands to reason that it is simply another gross example of “liberal bias” that I am appalled by the IRS action. Right”
Wrong again. The IRS was absolutely correct in launching an investigation into the Pentecostal Temple Church of God in Christ of Las Vegas which endorsed Obama before the Nevada Caucuses. The temple crossed the line when it officially endorsed Obama and used church resources to support his candidacy. That complaint, by the way, was initiated by Americans United for Separation of Church and State, whose good work this blog has long supported.
Tellingly, Americans United is not troubled by the events surrounding the Obama speech. “We did not file a complaint with the IRS about the Obama appearance,” said the Rev. Barry W. Lynn, Americans United executive director. “We looked into the situation and did not see a violation of IRS rules. We saw no evidence of UCC officials seeking to appear to endorse his candidacy.”
Here are the facts. 1) The UCC invited a member of its own denomination to speak on a matter of faith. 2) The speech itself was not a campaign or political speech. 3) Prior to the speech “Associate General Minister Edith A. Guffey, who serves as administrator of the biennial General Synod, admonished the crowd that Obama's appearance was not to be a campaign-related event and that electioneering would not be tolerated. No political leaflets, signs or placards were allowed, and activity by the Obama campaign was barred from inside the Hartford Civic Center venue.” (from UCC web page.) 4) Some Obama supporters did set up literature tables outside the convention center and outside the perimeter of the official meeting space of the UCC. 5) The Obama campaign says that it did not arrange that and that the tables were the spontaneous work of his supporters.
On the face of it, none of this constitutes proscribed “political activities that could jeopardize its [UCC] tax-exempt status.’
That this case has been initiated and pursued raises troubling questions about whether the IRS, like just about every other Federal agency, has been politicized by the Bush Administration and the sycophantic hacks it routinely puts in positions of authority. This action certainly seems selective. It brings to mind the investigation of an activist California Episcopal whose minister delivered an attack on the war policies of the president. That sermon from the pulpit was deemed a partisan attack on candidate George W. Bush, then running for re-election. The intent in that case was clearly to silence religious opposition to the war.
The motive in the current case may be more subtle. Could it be that Barack Obama has been too successful in redefining what it means to act on faith values in the public arena? The Republicans have long believed that they owned the “God franchise” and have used Family Values and “moral” issues promoted by Evangelicals and other religious conservatives as wedge issues to split blue collar and middle class families from their traditional identification with the Democratic Party. Obama, has insisted that issues of poverty, war, and justice are moral issues and that the term People of Faith embraces more than just the followers of certain self-appointed moral arbiters.
In the end, this IRS action is less a slap at Obama than a naked play at intimidation aimed squarely at religious liberals.
For those concerned about these issues and want to do something about them, the UCC has established a Legal Fund. Contributions can be made to:
UCC Legal Fund
United Church of Christ
700 Prospect Ave.
Cleveland, OH 44115-1100