South Carolina Church Takes Down Sign

The church in South Carolina that had posted a message on its sign attempting to smear Senator and presidential candidate Barack Obama has now changed the message on that sign.

The sign in front of the Jonesville Church of God said, "Obama, Osama, hmm, are they brothers?"

On Tuesday, the Church Of God's International Office issued a statement saying that the sign had been removed. (Full Text Of Church Of God Statement)

The message on the sign now reads: "How will you spend eternity, smoking or no smoking?" . . . .

The amount of attention the message received surprised [the pastor of the Jonesville church, Roger] Byrd.

"I'm very surprised," he said, "It shocked me and startled me." . . . .

The WYFF4.com story about the sign was viewed more than a quarter million times by users across the country. Hundreds of negative comments regarding the sign were posted online. On Tuesday, Byrd apparently decided the wording on the sign should be replaced.

He was not available for comment on Tuesday.

The Church of God's International Offices obviously realized that the sign was a problem and likely had some private words with the pastor of the church.  In its April 22 press release entitled Statement Regarding Jonesville, South Carolina Church of God, it says:

The Church of God (Cleveland, TN) makes no endorsement in political campaigns, whether on the state, local, or federal level.  We encourage our local congregations to follow a similar path.  Any endorsement, direct or implied, made by a local church is regrettable and is not supported by Church of God.  To our knowledge the sign has been removed.  While we do support a government based upon Biblical principles and we encourage our members to participate in the political process based upon their personal convictions, the single goal and purpose of the Church of God is the furtherance of the ministry of the gospel.

In terms of the IRS rules, the red flag here related to a possible implied statement of opposition to a candidate for elective public office rather than a possible implied endorsement of a such candidate.  But both implied endorsements and implied statements of opposition are equally problematic under IRS rules.  The IRS has said: "Even if a statement does not expressly tell an audience to vote for or against a specific candidate, an organization delivering the statement is at risk of violating the political campaign intervention prohibition if there is any message favoring or opposing a candidate."  So the Church of God is properly taking steps to distance itself from the Jonesville church's action, protect its own status as a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt entity, and send a message to local church bodies, including the Jonesville church. 

Having said that, it would have been better if the denomination had spoken more directly and emphatically to the issues of Christian ethics that were raised here.  After all, the single goal and purpose of the Church that is enumerated in its statement certainly has been damaged by this episode.  In my view, the fact that this denomination may be organized such that local churches have autonomy to make their own decisions does not mean that a national body cannot say what it thinks about those decisions in appropriate cases.  Given the national attention that this case has received, it seems to me that this is one of those cases.  Perhaps the Church of God will have more to say about this case in other statements or communications.

In any case, I hope the Jonesville Church of God and its pastor have had a change of heart as well as a change of their sign's message. 

Comments

[Bob Cornwall]

More important than the church/state/IRS issues is the fact that a church had chosen to participate, knowingly or not, in the whisper campaign -- one that seeks to disparage Barack Obama by disparaging Islam. Not very Christian, I'd say!

[Jack]

While the sign was offencive to Obama supporters, the fact remains that it was posted AFTER the South Carolina primary.

[Melissa Rogers]

Jack, it was not just Obama supporters who were offended by this sign. And, yes, the sign was posted after the South Carolina primary. But it was posted before the general election. Senator Obama may be the Democratic party's nominee in the general election.

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Is Patsor Roger Byrd still a member of the
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