Ought churches be used for political purposes? I’m not talking about permitting a meeting in the “fellowship hall” but actually using the ritual space of the church building and even going so far as enlisting the church’s choir and other personnel to explicitly stump a political candidate. Ought this be done?
Should it be illegal? No.
Is it a sacrilege? Probably, but not being a church-goer I’m not the one to say.
Is it in bad taste? Yes.
Churches get tax-exempt status in our country. Political advocacy groups and campaign committees do not.
I think it should be perfectly legal for a church to stump for a candidate. They just better not complain when they get that letter from the IRS explaining the revocation of their tax-exempt status.
Daniel
It’s already illegal, bnorton. From the tax code for 501©(3) organizations:
Dogface, if you’ve come across a church that’s participated in such activity, you should really contact their pastor to let them know what they’re doing isn’t allowed.
One of the major problems in past elections has been the Christian Coalition’s voter guides, which are heavily, heavily biased in favor of Republican candidates. The IRS found the CC to be a political organization in 1999, denying it tax-exempt status; nevertheless, tax-exempt churches are still the CC’s major avenue of distribution for its Republican-advocacy voter guides.
I personally believe that churches who distribute such materials, unless they’re distributed as one of several voter guides, ought to lose tax-exempt status. A church that distributes only the Sierra Club’s voter guide should face similar troubles. A church that gave out guides from the CC, the Sierra Club, the League of Women Voters, the NAACP, and the NRA would not risk losing their status, as they’d clearly not be advocating any particular position except involvement in politics, hardly a partisan stance.
Daniel
Just out of curiosity, does this thread stem from Clinton’s appearance on behalf of Gray Davis at the First AME Church in South L.A. over the weekend?
I’m not a recall supporter and I am a Clinton fan but I found it in somewhat poor taste for him to speak at the church for political purposes.
OK, so how about a major crack-down on urban Black churches? Unlike the more subtle bias of the CC, these frequently feature open endorsing and get-out-the-vote exhortations. For Democrats.
Izzy, if this is true, I’d fully support a crackdown on them. Churches should not be used as political pulpits, and if people want to use them as such, they should be willing to forego tax-exempt status.
Using a church as a get-out-the-vote campaign is nonpartisan, however; as long as it’s not accompanied by a call to vote Democrat (or Republican), that shouldn’t be a problem.
I’d need to look at specific cases before I could say that urban black churches’ campaigns have been relevantly similar to the CC’s campaign; could you give me some specific cases to look at?
Daniel
Does the IRS distinguish between actions taken by religious groups outside of religious assemblies and actions taken by religious groups addressed only to the congregations?
One of the issues that the IRS had with the Christian Coalition was that they were using their funds to buy advertising in the media addressed to the public at large.
(I am asking out of genuine curiosity, I do not know if the IRS makes any such distinction or whether it went after the CC simply because it was a large, visible organization while the IRS did not have the manpower to attempt to police hundreds of small local churches of whatever political persuasion. I will note that many non-profit organizations (religious and secular) had already established separate taxable political foundations long before the CC was taken to task.)
tomndebb, there’s a lot of gray involved. You isolated the main problem - manpower. There simply is a terrible state of affairs in the policing of non-profits by the IRS. Most of it can probably be attributed to the absurd tax laws (how many volumes are we up to? 12?), but the fact that you can’t have an IRS agent in each church every week is another. Plus, 501©(3) groups are allowed a certain amount of leniency regarding direct politics, so any infraction is certain to be waived, unless it’s an egregious instance.
So while the Church of So-and-So isn’t allowed to act like a PAC, it is allowed to call up their representative and tell them what’s on their mind.
While they’re not allowed to register voters and tell them to vote for Politician X, they can register voters and tell them what the church stance is on Policy Y (as well as give them information as to what politicians supports their view on Y).
I don’t think they are similar to the CC. The CC is issue-oriented, with the issues portrayed in a GOP friendly manner. The Black churches are more overtly political. Generally rousing political call to action, with either an explicit or implicit call to vote for the Democrats. I don’t know what specific cites might do, nor do I have any offhand - what I’ve asserted it what I’ve seen (not personally) over the time I’ve been following politics. Here is a cynical description of the process from the DenverBlackPages.com:
You mean, like the one that hosted a rally for Bill Clinton and Grey Davis yesterday?
Izzy, I read your commentary. Some comments of my own:
- While I’d much prefer churches not cede their pulpit to any political candidate, I could see it happening in a balanced perspective. Did the churches that invited Hillary to speak also invite her opponent to speak? If so, I’d consider them in the clear, just as I’d consider it copacetic for a church to offer the CC’s voter guide alongside the LWV’s voter guide. If not, I’d be pissed off at them.
- Is there an update on the IRS’s investigation of Hillary and Gore?
- I don’t have a problem with ministers looking to gather support for a politician in their community – as long as they don’t use church resources to do so. If Pat Robertson is a preacher at a church, but he stumps for Bush on his own time, that’s not a problem; it’s only a problem when he preaches a sermon on the evils of Democrats (or when a liberal preacher preaches on the evils of Republicans). The CC got in trouble because they were using organizational resources for partisan purposes.
Once more: I don’t mind churches being politicized (well, I kind of mind it, but don’t think it should be illegal). I just think that churches that do that should be reclassified under the IRS as non-exempt organizations. That applies equally to churches on the right and on the left.
I also think the IRS should provide unambiguous guidelines to churches on what constitutes political activity. Right now, I think it’s pretty unclear on what’s allowed and what’s not, and that’s a bad situation.
Daniel
In order to get charity status, the purpose of the charity is to make an external difference in the community. A charity that issues receipts can not give any benifit to it’s members. The Supreme Court said* In the law of charity, the courts’ primary concern is to determine whether the purposes being pursued are charitable. It is these purposes which are essential, not the activities engaged in,…" So can it be done? Sure, but the why it’s done is pretty important.
And a charity and a NFP have different guidelines. A NFP can give benifits to it’s members, a charity can’t.
Svt4Him, I haven’t seen a distinction made between a “charity” and a “not-for-profit” in all of my MPA classes (concentration in Nonprofit Management). Do you have a cite I could see to that Supreme Court case? Seems to me that both fall under 501©(3), as exhibited in every single church and non-profit I’ve case studied.
But there’s certainly room for education in this po-dunk university!
Be pissed, then.
My folks’ church (the church I grew up in) does this fairly often. They had Jimmy Carter speak to them. They would never consider a Republican. I have attended services where the minister specifically condemns Republican initiatives.
This seems to me to be the functional equivalent of what the Christian Coalition does, except on the left.
Jesse Jackson does it all the time.
See above.
Regards,
Shodan
Actually, Robertson often uses his pulpit to express political opinion (as does Falwell–as does Jackson and Sharpton and as did William Sloane Coffin, Jr.). This is why I wonder whether it is merely manpower or a perception of “inside” and “outside” the congregation. After all, the IRS did not go after the Falls Road Church at the same time they were going after the Christian Coalition and I do not recall them ever going after the Riverside Church.
Just to be clear: Carter spoke to the church in either 1975, 76, 79, or 80, right? As in, he spoke to the church while campaigning? That’s where it’d be a problem.
And I do believe it happens in churches, and I want to be very clear: when it happens, churches should be warned that they’re in danger of being reclassified by the IRS. If the churches persist, they should lose their tax-exempt status. I believe this should apply to all religious organizations, including those that let Democrats take the pulpits without inviting Republicans to do the same.
Churches should not let themselves be used as tax dodges for political campaigns. If they want to participate in politics, let them play by the same rules as everyone else.
Daniel
Vanvouver Society of Immigrant and Visible Minority Women v. M.N.R in 1999
Political Activities are viewed as such by CCRA when it involves any activity designed to influence the policy-making process of any level of government, or any attempt to sway public opinion on any issue. Principles of ethics, morals and social justice have always been considered to be legitimate and proper concerns of the church. BUt a church is not permitted to support or oppose a particular politicial candidate or party and it is required to devote around 90% of it’s funds to charitable activities.
As for NFP and charities, the ITA says in part, “that no part of the income of the organization may be made available for the personal benefit of any proprietor, member, shareholder, trustee or settlor thereof.” That means if your church rents out it’s facilities, and you get a better price as a church member, they are conferring a benifit to you. A NFP can give benifits to it’s members. For instance, if you are a member of some groups, you get special offers, magazines, etc.