IRS Crackdown on Church "Political Activities"

IRS Crackdown on Church "Political Activities"

These days, it appears there's a fine line between making a moral and a political statement.

That's what more and more pastors are finding out as IRS probes enter their churches' doors with threats of removing their tax-exempt status.

Last year, the IRS reported that 37 out of 40 churches were investigated for political activity after the 2004 election. They were issued warnings or penalized with excise taxes for violating the law, yet none lost their tax exemptions.

Kansas Church Stands against Abortion

One church in Wichita, Kansas is under investigation for its "political involvement" prior to the November 2006 election.

Pastor Mark Holick could lose his church's tax-exempt status for taking a stand against abortion.

After the Spirit One Christian Center church posted "Sebelius accepted $300,000.00 from abortionist Tiller, price of 1,000 babies," on its marquee, the IRS sent Holick a letter of inquiry.

"A reasonable belief exists that your organization has engaged in political activities…" were the words Holick read from the statement in an interview with CBN News. "They sent the letter a few weeks ago with 31 different questions and four different themes: statements on our changeable marquee sign, content on our Website, email sent out and voters' guides."

Holick believes that the IRS's main contention revolves around Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius. The government agency contends that the context in which her name was used on the church's marquee constitutes unauthorized political involvement.

However, Holick asserts that the church is protected under the First Amendment of the United States Constitution, which says, "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press…"

"The IRS basically told me I took a political position. It's not. It's a Christian position… a moral position. This is a First Amendment issue, not a tax issue," Holick concluded.

To Investigate or Not to Investigate?

In Ohio and California, the IRS had to choose its battles.

Though Pastor Rod Parsley invited Republican and Democratic candidates to World Harvest Church's events, only Ohio Secretary of State Ken Blackwell showed up.

Blackwell is a conservative Christian who opposes abortion and gay marriage. His stance on these issues with Parsley motivated 56 liberal clergy to call for in an IRS investigation.

One complaint accuses Parsley of supporting Blackwell's run for governor by letting him speak at events. Another claims that Parsley planned on having Blackwell on his radio spots, a baseless allegation denied by the pastor and the politician.

It is also contested without evidence that Parsley's "Reformation Ohio" project, aiming to register 400,000 new voters, seeks only conservatives.

The 56 leftist religious leaders felt it was unfair for the IRS to audit a large liberal Episcopalian church in California for political involvement while overlooking Parsley's activities.

All Saints Church underwent an IRS investigation for a sermon against Bush's Iraq war before the 2004 election.

Throughout all the allegations, Parsley remained quite confident.

"We're not going to be silent when the time-honored institution of marriage is in jeopardy," said Parsley, whose book Culturally Incorrect is hitting the bookstores. "We're not going to be silent at the slaughter of 44 million babies since 1973."

Parsley wasn't surprised when the IRS opted not to investigate his church on the matter. He asserted that his ministry is not about forming Republicans or Democrats; it is about equipping Christians on biblical issues.

Spiritual Warning or Political Attack?

In another case, the IRS was contacted last month when the organization Americans United for Separation of Church and State reported that Bill Keller Ministries overstepped its political boundaries.

It invoked the IRS to rescind Keller's tax-exempt status for an anti-Romney message in his daily Web devotional.

"If you vote for Mitt Romney, you are voting for Satan!" reads Keller's May 11 Liveprayer.com devotional. "If the former Massachusetts governor wins the GOP nomination and the presidency, he will ultimately lead millions of souls to the eternal flames of hell."

Commenting on his controversial statements, Keller made it clear that his warning to 2.4 million prayer ministry Internet subscribers was a spiritual one, and not politically motivated or intended.

Will pastors' ability to speak to their congregations about social and moral issues erode, or will their appeals to the First Amendment protect this right?

As the 2008 presidential election nears, the answer will continue to unfold.