| Topic: |
Religions > Atheism |
| User: |
"G-Ride" |
| Date: |
10 Jun 2004 02:27:15 PM |
| Object: |
Church/State Separation |
I haven't seen this posted here - if it has my apologies for the repeat.
There is a new bill would allow church officials to participate in partisan
politics and not lose church tax exempt status:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A26244-2004Jun8?language=printer
Speaker Pushes Jobs Bill Provision
Religious Leaders Would Be Allowed More Freedom to Participate in Partisan
Politics
By Alan Cooperman
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, June 9, 2004; Page A19
House Republican leaders have tacked on to a major jobs bill a provision
that would give religious leaders more freedom to engage in partisan
politics without endangering the tax-exempt status of their churches.
Conservative Christian groups have been pushing for such legislation for
years, while civil liberties organizations and religious minorities have
opposed it. But unlike past proposals, which were stand-alone bills, the
current provision is attached to a huge tax bill that House leaders have
placed on a fast track for consideration.
A spokeswoman for the House Ways and Means Committee, Christin Tinsworth,
said the provision was inserted in the American Jobs Creation Act of 2004 at
the request of House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) because "this is an
election year and there are not many bills that will become law this year."
Hastert's office did not respond to repeated calls Monday and yesterday
seeking comment.
The provision's conservative Christian backers, including the Southern
Baptist Convention, say selective enforcement by the IRS has had a "chilling
effect" on evangelical churches. Some also say the tax code, which was
changed in 1954 to prohibit churches from engaging in partisan activity, has
deprived religious groups of their historical place in U.S. politics.
But the Rev. Barry W. Lynn, executive director of Americans United for
Separation of Church and State, called the latest legislation a "back-door
attempt" to revise tax laws to help President Bush's reelection campaign.
Last week, Americans United made public an e-mail from the Bush-Cheney
campaign seeking to identify 1,600 "friendly congregations" in Pennsylvania.
Campaign officials acknowledged that similar efforts are underway across the
country as Bush seeks to take advantage of what political strategists call
the religion gap: Polls show that frequent churchgoers overwhelmingly vote
Republican.
Under current tax rules, clergy members are allowed to speak out on
political issues and to lead nonpartisan voter registration drives. But the
IRS can revoke a congregation's 501(c)3 tax-exempt status if it endorses
candidates or engages in partisan politics.
The American Jobs Creation Act, introduced Friday by House Ways and Means
Committee Chairman Bill Thomas (R-Calif.), is scheduled for markup Thursday
and a vote on the House floor next week. The bill's main purpose is to cut
the top corporate tax rate from 35 percent to 32 percent and provide other
tax relief to businesses, in return for repealing subsidies that have
triggered European sanctions on U.S. farmers and manufacturers.
But on page 378 of the bill is a provision entitled "Safe Harbor for
Churches." It would allow clergy members to engage in political activity,
including endorsing candidates, as long as they make clear that they are
acting as private citizens and not on behalf of their religious
organizations. They could not make partisan political statements in church
publications, at church functions or using church funds.
The provision also would allow clergy members to commit three "unintentional
violations" of the tax rules on political activity each year without risking
the loss of tax-exempt status. After the first violation, the church,
synagogue or mosque would have to pay corporate taxes on one week's worth of
its annual revenue. For the second violation, the penalty would be taxation
of 50 percent of the organization's annual revenue. The penalty for the
third violation would be taxation of a year's revenue, but not permanent
loss of its tax exemption.
The bill does not go as far as a proposal made two years ago by Rep. Walter
B. Jones Jr. (R-N.C.), which would have explicitly allowed religious groups
to endorse candidates and spend money to help elect them.
--
Aloha, G-Ride
"That's a lot of whiskey and women, Devil-Man."
.
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| User: "JTEM" |
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| Title: Re: Church/State Separation |
11 Jun 2004 06:50:08 AM |
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"G-Ride" <gride42nospam@yahoo.com> wrote
I haven't seen this posted here - if it has my apologies for the
repeat. There is a new bill would allow church officials to
participate in partisan politics and not lose church tax exempt
status:
I've heard about it. It's sickening.
.
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