A First Amendment watchdog group is suing the Internal Revenue Service
for failing to challenge the tax-exempt status of churches whose pastors
engage in partisan politicking from the pulpit.
The Freedom From
Religion Foundation, which advocates total separation of church and
state, filed the lawsuit Nov. 14 in U.S. District Court in
Western Wisconsin, where the 19,000-member organization is based.
The
lawsuit claims that as many as 1,500 pastors engaged in "Pulpit Freedom
Sunday" on Sunday, Oct. 7, when pastors endorsed one or more
candidates, which is a violation of IRS rules for non-profit
organizations.
IRS rules state that organizations classified as
501 (c) (3) non-profits – a tax-exempt status most churches and other
religious institutions claim – cannot participate or intervene in "any
political campaign on behalf of (or in opposition to) any political
candidate."
Though the regulation has been in place since 1954, a
federal court ruled in 2009 that the IRS no longer had the appropriate
staff to investigate places of worship after a reorganization changed
who in the agency had the authority to launch investigations.
IRS
rules do allow for some nonpartisan activity by religious institutions,
including organizing members to vote and speaking out on issues. But
endorsing or supporting specific candidates could jeopardize their
tax-exempt status.
But a recent Associated Press story reported
that the IRS has not challenged any religious organizations on charges
of electioneering in the past three years. An IRS spokesperson told the
AP that it was "holding any potential church audits in abeyance" until
rules on electioneering could be "finalized."
The lawsuit also
challenges the legality of several full-page newspaper advertisements
paid for by the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, another 501 (c)
(3), that exhorted voters to vote along "biblical principles." The ads
ran after Graham met with Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney
and promised to do "all I can" to support his campaign.
FFRF has filed 27 complaints about church electioneering with the IRS this year, including:
–
Roman Catholic Bishop David Ricken of Green Bay, Wis., who wrote an
appeal on diocesan letterhead inserted in parish bulletins warning
voters that they could "put their own soul in jeopardy" if they voted
for a party or candidate that supports same-sex marriage or abortion
rights.
– Roman Catholic Bishop Daniel Jenky of Peoria, Ill., who
criticized President Obama in a homily and then exhorted parishioners
that "every practicing Catholic must vote, and must vote their Catholic
consciences."
– Roman Catholic Bishop Robert Morlino, who, in an
article appearing in the local diocesan newspaper, wrote of
"non-negotiable" political issues, and that "No Catholic may, in good
conscience, vote for'pro-choice' candidates (or) ... for candidates who
promote'same-sex marriage.'"
A similar complaint against the U.S.
Conference of Catholic Bishops for the electioneering of its members
was filed by the Washington-based Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics
in Washington.