Complaint filed with IRS after Tampa televangelist compares Romney to
Satan
By Alan Cooperman
Washington Post
Posted June 1 2007, 10:44 AM EDT
WASHINGTON _ Florida evangelist Bill Keller says he was making a
spiritual -- not political -- statement when he warned the 2.4 million
subscribers to his Internet prayer ministry that ``if you vote for Mitt
Romney, you are voting for Satan!''
But the Washington-based advocacy group Americans United for
Separation of Church and State says the Internal Revenue Service (IRS)
should revoke the 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status of Bill Keller Ministries,
nonetheless.
Keller, 49, who has a call-in show on a Tampa television station and
a Web site called Liveprayer.com, on May 11 sent out a ``daily
devotional'' that called Romney ``an unabashed and proud member of the
Mormon cult founded by a murdering polygamist pedophile named Joseph Smith
nearly 200 years ago.
'' If the former Massachusetts governor wins the GOP nomination and
the presidency, Keller's message added, it will ``ultimately lead millions
of souls to the eternal flames of hell.''
In a letter to the IRS on Thursday, Americans United called Keller's
message a violation of the ban on partisan politicking by tax-exempt
religious groups.
Keller, in a telephone interview, laughed off the controversy. ``Let
them come after me for making a spiritual statement about Mitt Romney. I
would love that,'' he said. ``Bring it on.''
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/florida/sfl-601complaint,0,1736460.story?coll=sfla-home-headlines
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