June 4, 2004
A move by President Bush's re-election campaign is once again raising a threat of churches losing their tax-exempt status.
According to an Associated Press report, an e-mail from the Bush campaign's Pennsylvania office urges churchgoers to help organize what it calls "friendly congregations" where supporters can meet regularly to sign up voters.
The e-mail states: "The Bush-Cheney '04 national headquarters in Virginia has asked us to identify 1600 'Friendly Congregations' in Pennsylvania where voters friendly to President Bush might gather on a regular basis."
The e-mail, which is adorned with the Bush-Cheney logo, goes on to ask people if they would like to serve as a "volunteer coordinator" and, in that capacity, distribute general information and updates as well as voter registration material "in a place accessible to the congregation."
The effort is apparently being expanded to other states, according to Kevin Madden, a Bush-Cheney campaign spokesman. He says the campaign does not mean to imply that religious supporters should congregate for the president at their places of worship.
"This message is intended to be from individual to individual," Kevin Madden explains. "This is organizing with individuals who may be members of a church who we hope to identify as supporters and be part of our efforts." He adds that people of faith who feel strongly about the president "are people we want to be part of our campaign."
Another spokesman for the Bush Administration, Steve Schmidt, told the Detroit Free Press that "people of faith have as much right to participate in the political process as any other community," and that the e-mail was about "building the most sophisticated grassroots presidential campaign in the country's history."
But Barry Lynn, executive director of Americans for the Separation of Church and State, says he has never seen such a direct campaign to politicize American churches -- and he warns that it could cost participating churches their tax-exempt status.
"This is the most shocking example of politicizing churches I've ever seen," Lynn states in a press release, describing the effort as an "election scheme." He contends that "introduction of partisan politics into the pews will also divide congregations and entangle politics and religion in very unhealthy ways."
Lynn, who recommends the Bush campaign abandon its plan immediately, made similar accusations against the Christian Coalition in 1998 when that group sought to enlist 100,000 "church liaisons" in an effort to bring conservative Christians into the political arena prior to the November 2000 election. Lynn's group has also declared that the "religious right" is "the single greatest threat to church-state separation in America."
The Internal Revenue Service prohibits political activity for or against candidates at churches and other tax-exempt organizations. But as Republican supporters have often pointed out, Democratic presidential hopefuls have spoken frequently from the pulpits of black churches, and there are no reports to date that those churches have lost their tax-exempt status.
Values-Based Voting
Dr. Richard Land of the Southern Baptist Convention says if he were a pastor, he would not be comfortable with one of his church member distributing campaign material within a church or during a church service. While he indicates he would have no problem discussing campaign issues and party platforms with his congregation, he would offer only this advice: "I would tell them to vote -- and to vote their conscience," he says.
Land's organization, the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, has developed IVoteValues.com -- a website that encourages what he calls "citizen Christians" to become informed about various candidates' positions on issues and then vote accordingly. Land says such voters have a God-given responsibility.
"Those who vote blindly the traditional party loyalties of their families and regional origins instead of shared common core values, beliefs, and convictions are falling short in their roles as Citizen Christians," he says. "Ultimately, our loyalty belongs not to any political party or candidate but to God Almighty."
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Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission (http://www.erlc.com)
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