Inside the First Amendment
http://www.northcountrygazette.org/articles/112205HaynesOnIRS.html
North Country Gazette - Chestertown,NY,USA

Even if many liberals are outraged by IRS actions, they aren't ready to
lift the ban on political endorsements from the pulpit. As Elliot Mincberg
of People for the American Way explained in an interview, a core problem
with the Jones bill is that it singles out religious groups for
preferential treatment. He argues that allowing only religious groups and
not other tax-exempt nonprofits to endorse candidates is not only unfair -
it may violate the establishment clause of the First Amendment.

Americans United for Separation of Church and State warns on its Web site
that the Jones bill would circumvent campaign laws by using tax-deductible
contributions to fund partisan campaigns.

"People donate to their houses of
worship," says AU's Barry Lynn, "knowing those donations are not going to
support a politician's campaign."

The answer from some on the liberal side: Keep the IRS regulations, but
make sure the ground rules are clear. Mincberg calls for new guidelines
that "draw the line" in ways less open to subjective interpretation by IRS
officials.
[end excerpt]


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Posting and reading from alt.politics.usa.constitution OR alt.education

You are invited to check out the following:

The Rise of the Theocratic States of America
http://members.tripod.com/~candst/theocracy.htm

American Theocrats - Past and Present
http://members.tripod.com/~candst/theocrats.htm

The Constitutional Principle: Separation of Church and State
http://members.tripod.com/~candst/index.html

[and to join the discussion group for the above site and/or Separation of
Church and State in general, listed below]

HRSepCnS · Hampton Roads [Virginia] SepChurch&State
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HRSepCnS/

[Its not just Hampton Roads folks who are members, there are members from
all over the U.S. and a couple from overseas as well]

***************************************************************
. . . You can't understand a phrase such as "Congress shall make no law
respecting an establishment of religion" by syllogistic reasoning. Words
take their meaning from social as well as textual contexts, which is why "a
page of history is worth a volume of logic." New York Trust Co. v. Eisner,
256 U.S. 345, 349, 41 S.Ct. 506, 507, 65 L.Ed. 963 (1921) (Holmes, J.).
Sherman v. Community Consol. Dist. 21, 980 F.2d 437, 445 (7th Cir. 1992)
. . .
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THE CONSTITUTIONAL PRINCIPLE:
SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE

http://members.tripod.com/~candst/index.html
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