by Lowman S. Henry | January 02, 2006

IRS tramples America’s religious rights

The Internal Revenue Service is attempting to revoke the tax exempt status of the All Saints Episcopal church in Pasadena, California citing a 1954 law that prohibits all tax exempt organizations from endorsing or otherwise supporting political candidates.

What has All Saints Episcopal done to bring the ire of the IRS down upon it?  It seems a former rector of the church in October of 2004 delivered a sermon the IRS deemed to be an endorsement of then-Presidential candidate John F. Kerry.  The rector, George Regas, did not tell his congregation to vote for Kerry, but delivered a sermon entitled “If Jesus Debated Senator Kerry and President Bush,” in which Regas assailed the war in Iraq.

The issue here is not the flawed logic Regas used in writing his sermon, but rather the chilling specter of the federal government pushing to revoke the tax exempt status of a church because the pulpit was used to inject a religious point of view into the political equation.  Christians of all stripes, and many other religious I suspect, cannot leave their religious beliefs at the doorstep when entering the political realm.  Our religion compels us to be Christians all the time, not selectively based on the whims of temporal authority.

The actions of the IRS come perilously close to, in fact likely cross the constitutional line protecting religious expression in this country.  Those who might be tempted to say the church is getting what it deserves for such a crass challenge of the President should be reminded that a federal government strong enough to silence criticism of a conservative Republican President is also strong enough to silence future criticism by the Right of a liberal Democrat President.

America has a rich history of religious involvement in civic affairs.  As the Bill of Rights was being debated at the time of the ratification of the U.S. Constitution, there was some concern over the very first amendment which states in part: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.”

A group of Baptists in Danbury, Connecticut wrote to Thomas Jefferson asking him to clarify that clause and its potential effect on their freedom to worship.  Jefferson wrote back saying: “The First Amendment has erected a wall of separation between church and state, but that wall is a one directional wall; it keeps the government from running the church, bit it makes sure that Christian principles will always stay in government.”

Since that time, churches have fully participated in the civil life of our nation.  The genesis and sustenance of the civil rights movement sprang from predominantly black congregations in the south.  We now have a national holiday dedicated to the memory of the Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr.  Many of the leading figures in the African-American community bear the title “Reverend” before their names.

One of the strongest political forces in our nation today is the so-called “religious right,” where pastors such as Jerry Falwell and James Dobson speak for millions of Americans concerned over the erosion of our traditional values and the debasement of our culture.  The “values vote” is widely credited with having provided President George W. Bush with his margin of victory in the last Presidential election.

Federal laws governing what can and cannot be said and done in churches are already unduly restrictive.  The clear goal of the Founding Fathers, as evidenced by Thomas Jefferson’s letter to the Baptists at Danbury, was not to protect the government from religion, but rather to protect religion from the government.  In the case of All Saints Episcopal church, the government has gone too far – and needs to be reigned in before a dangerous precedent is set which seriously erodes the freedom of religious expression we have been endowed with by our Creator.