A Showdown is Brewing

A law introduced in 1954 had put a gag on churches and charities that are getting tax exemption from the government not to intervene in politics in anyway. This smacks directly on the freedom of speech from the layman point of view, but the churches and charites are looking at it the same way and they are ganging up. They are not going to be only Christian churches; it is going to involve the major faiths like Jewish and Muslims. The first victim IRS has started probing is All Saints Episcopal Church that is accused of allowing a sermon attacking Bush’s stand in particular and the war effort in general, two days before the 2004 election. What this means is if found guilty, because they have unanimously agreed to go to court, they could lose their tax exemption that is if it does not get worse than that. Opinion is divided about the issue, and the president of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention, said, "Churches should not endorse political candidates. But the IRS is seriously out of kilter and wrong-headed on this one; it's an appalling intrusion." It is a good warning shot for the others even if the final decision will have to come from the courts.