Here's a list of some recent stories regarding the Alliance Defense Fund's "Pulpit Initiative" that took place yesterday. There's a snippet from each story under each listing. AP coverage from yesterday is here. For a list that correlates the pastors who participated in this effort (the ones whose names are public) with coverage of their respective sermons, click here.
The Rev. Ron Johnson Jr. [of Living Stones Church in Crown Point, Indiana] told worshipers that the Democratic presidential nominee's positions on abortion and gay partnerships exist "in direct opposition to God's truth as He has revealed it in the Scriptures." Johnson showed slides contrasting the candidates' views but stopped short of endorsing Obama's Republican opponent, Sen. John McCain. . . .
Asked why he felt the need to discuss the candidates by name and to be explicit in rejecting Obama and his pro-choice views, Johnson said he must connect the dots because he is not sure that all members of his congregation can do so on their own. . . .
2. LA Times
Two Orange County ministers were among dozens across the country taking
politics to the pulpit Sunday in hopes of influencing the Nov. 4
presidential election.
Unlike
some pastors elsewhere who endorsed Republican John McCain during
"Pulpit Freedom Sunday," the two ministers stopped short of explicitly
recommending that worshipers vote for either McCain or Democrat Barack
Obama. But they were not shy about raising politics in church.
Pastor Stephen B. Orman urged those attending
his Warner Avenue Baptist Church service in Huntington Beach to use the
Bible as a voters' guide and evaluate candidates and issues on the
basis of Christian scripture.
The Rev. Wiley S. Drake suggested
that those at his First Southern Baptist Church in Buena Park vote for
him -- and for his presidential running mate on the American
Independent Party ticket, Alan Keyes. . . .
[Wiley Drake] urged members to think about their faith when voting and spent much of
his 40-minute sermon giving a partisan speech about the presidential
candidates and their issues. "According to my Bible and in my opinion,
there is no way in the world a Christian can vote for Barack Hussein
Obama," Drake said. . . . .
In
Huntington Beach, Orman spoke of personal responsibility, citing home
schooling as an example. He said judges who recently ruled against
restrictions on home instruction deserve support as churchgoers check
the records of judges and vote out those they feel "have been doing
wrong."
He said he favors the separation of church and state, "but I don't believe in the separation of God and government."
In
terms of the presidential and vice presidential election, "you can look
at the names Barack and Joseph and you can look at John and Sarah and
find them all in Scriptures," Orman said, prompting loud laughter from
those in the 102-year-old sanctuary.
Orman ended his sermon by
urging those in the congregation to vote. He said a voter registration
table would be available outside after the service.
There were
no takers at the sign-up table. Congregant Pamela Dyrud of Santa Ana
said most at Warner Avenue Baptist Church promptly register to vote
when they turn 18.
Deacon Kenneth Williams said he felt Orman
got his point across without jeopardizing the congregation's tax-exempt
IRS status -- or pulling any punches.
3. Atlanta Journal Constitution
The Rev. Jody Hice fired a verbal volley Sunday in a battle that he believes will return the United States to its American Revolutionary roots.
From his pulpit at Bethlehem First Baptist Church outside of Atlanta, he urged his congregation to vote for Sen. John McCain and to not vote for Sen. Barack Obama.
He based his recommendations on McCain’s opposition to abortion and gay marriage and Obama’s support of those issues, Hice told the Barrow County church packed with about 400 listeners. . . .
Hice quoted the Bible and some of American’s Founding Fathers in making his case that he believed the regulation was unconstitutional. Hice said that he was following the historical norm in this nation’s history.
Church leaders have a right to address moral and cultural issues, Hice said.
“Or else we will find ourselves in America led by secularists and atheists.”
4. Grand Forks Herald (Grand Forks, Minnesota)
Members of the
congregation at Warroad (Minn.) Community Church listened intently
Sunday morning as Rev. Gus Booth told them they not only should vote
for John McCain in November, but they also should campaign for him. . . .
“We need to vote for the most righteous of candidates,” Booth said Sunday. “And it doesn’t take a brain surgeon to figure that out. The most righteous is John McCain.”
He told members of the congregation they need to evaluate the candidates through the teachings of the Bible, focusing his sermon mainly on abortion and homosexuality, with mention of education. Homosexuality is wrong and immoral, Booth said, and Obama’s decision not to denounce neither it nor abortion is evil, wicked and an abomination, he added, and his views on homosexuality are “brain-dead.”
“Obama condones what the Bible condemns,” he said.
Booth doesn’t call himself a one-issue voter, he said. “But abortion is just that important.” . . . .
“The person who’s going to get my vote is the one who’s the most biblical,” he said.
He added, though, that even if Obama wins the election, he still will pray for and respect him. . . .
“It is important for your life not to have the wrath of God upon you for who you vote for in November,” Booth said.
The road to Heaven is narrow, but the path to destruction is wide, he added. . . .
“Pastor Booth argues that he is defending the freedom of religion and speech. But religion and speech have always had checks and balances,” Graff wrote. “In some parts of the world, clergy do tell their parishioners how to vote. Iran and Iraq come to mind. But would you really want to live in Iraq? Would you really want to worship in a congregation where the clergy are constantly doing your thinking for you?
Bill Moyers Journal, a national news group, was at the service, also.
“We
are looking at the national angle through this church,” said Betsy
Rate, Public Affairs Television producer, who traveled from New York
City. . . . .
5. Patriot News (Harrisburg, PA)
Thirty-three preachers nationwide -- including one in suburban
Philadelphia -- will openly defy the rule in political sermons this
weekend. [[Note from Melissa Rogers: This suburban Philadelphia pastor is not named in the piece.]]
Many -- including many evangelicals -- have no interest in pushing that boundary.
"We would impose that upon ourselves. We don't intervene in political campaigns," said the Rev. Mike Albon, pastor of the Harrisburg campus of the megachurch Lives Changed By Christ.
Rabbi Eric Cytryn said he's a member of Rabbis for Obama. Last week, during Friday services at Beth El Temple in Harrisburg, he said Jewish teaching agrees with Joe Biden, Barack Obama's Roman Catholic running mate, "that it's not only a civic but a religious responsibility to support those who have less than you do."
Still,
Cytryn said he supports the law that says the synagogue loses its tax
exemption if he endorses from the pulpit. Drawing that line "is the
only way to prevent the people from truly believing that God is in
favor of one candidate's positions over another candidate's positions,"
he said. . . .
In the midstate, interviews this week with a handful of clergy found little awareness of the effort -- and even less stomach for openly preaching partisan politics.
At Carlisle Brethren in Christ Church, the Rev. Alan Robinson will continue his Sunday sermon series, "When Kingdoms Collide: Christians and Politics," but his point sounded far from partisan.
"I want my congregation to understand there are multiple perspectives," he said.
Robinson said many in his congregation of about 1,250 each Sunday have said the sermons "allow us to talk with each other even when we have different political views."
"I really don't have a problem with the parameters that are there now," said the Rev. Tim Halbfoester at River of God Church, which attracts about 500 people each Sunday to two campuses, in Harrisburg and Enola.
"If we preach on the issues, people can make up their own minds who to vote for," he said.
The local Catholic Witness newspaper has been running articles about Roman Catholic teaching on issues in the campaign, and voter guides from the Pennsylvania Catholic Conference will be distributed to local parishes next month.
Spokesman Joe Aponick at the Roman Catholic Diocese of Harrisburg said the guides likely would address issues ranging from abortion and capital punishment to health care, immigration and international justice.
The Rev. Lavette Paige said she has welcomed voter registration booths to her church, Martin Luther King Baptist Church in Harrisburg."I don't specifically say a person I'm voting for over the pulpit," she said. "I want the people in my congregation to think on their own.
6. The Enid News (Enid, Oklahoma)
The Rev. Brad Menden-hall, pastor of World Harvest Church, is not familiar with the group and did not plan to participate. . . .
Mendenhall said pastors should have the right to speak freely on political matters from the pulpit. Mendenhall has done that, although not specifically endorsing anyone.
“If I talk about anything, it’s not endorsing any candidate, just the importance of voting our values and letting our voice be heard. That’s my approach,” Mendenhall said.
The Rev. Wade Burleson, pastor of Emmanuel Baptist Church, said he did not plan to participate and was vaguely aware of the group.
“I never talk about politics from the pulpit. We study scriptures and we talk about Christianity and people’s faith, but we leave politics for other people,” he said.
Burleson, who called himself a conservative, said he has told people he is active politically, but said the pulpit is not the place to promote a particular viewpoint.
UPDATE:
7. Jacques Berlinerblau interviews Marc Owens, former director of the Exempt Organizations Division of the IRS, and Eric Williams, senior pastor of North Congregational United Church of Christ in Columbus, Ohio
MARCUS OWENS: There are two issues at play here. One is the action of the ADF itself in orchestrating a mass violation of federal tax law. There is a set of ethical rules that applies to all professionals who practice federal tax law or who advise taxpayers as to what federal tax laws require. Those rules are designed to regulate the behavior of the tax professionals to ensure the integrity of the voluntary tax system and are backed up with sanctions. They are enforced by a part of the IRS called the Office of Professional Responsibility. What the rules clearly and unequivocally proscribe is counseling taxpayers on how to violate the tax law.
There is another issue as well. One of the requirements for federal tax exemption is that the charity or church in question not engage in political campaign activity. In addition to potential loss of tax-exempt status triggered by such intervention, there is an excise tax that applies to the amount involved in the political campaign intervention. It would be 10% of the amount a church spent on the activities constituting the intervention. So if the pastor spent his entire service on this act of intervention, and the intervention was described on the church website or in the church bulletin the church would have to pay 10% of those costs.
Of course, the loss of tax-exempt status, even for a limited period of time, is much more significant and symbolic.
What could happen to the ADF lawyers sponsoring this initiative
OWENS: A variety of penalties might apply to lawyers who are involved in assisting in, or aiding and abetting, the violation of tax law, as would be the case in helping to draft a sermon that endorsed or opposed specific candidates. The possible sanctions include warning letters, fines, and even a suspension or permanent bar from practicing tax law. The Office of Professional Responsibility, when it does take action against a lawyer or accountant, forwards the information about the action to the state bar or state CPA society, with further potential repercussions. . . .
In your opinion, are the IRS and Justice Department following proper procedures
OWENS: No one knows how they are doing up to now, because of the
privacy rules in the Internal Revenue Code that prevent the IRS from
disclosing any information about enforcement actions. The only time in
which information would be made public would be if the IRS barred or
suspended an attorney from the practice of tax law or if the IRS
revoked the tax exempt status of a church. The revocation action would
be made public to warn potential donors that their contributions will
not be deductible.
So in light of these privacy rules, how does Jane Q. Citizen know if the IRS is taking the ADF's actions seriously
OWENS: The IRS has confirmed that it has received the complaints and is evaluating them. In view of the facts that the complaints included specific documentation of the ethical violations, and the political campaign intervention will be publicized, the likelihood of IRS action is high. It is possible that the ADF, or one or more of the churches involved in the project, could release a public statement if IRS action occurs. I should also add that Sen. Charles Grassley (R - IA), the ranking member of the Senate Finance Committee, has been pushing the IRS to crack down on attorneys and other practitioners who counsel violation or abuse of the tax laws. The Department of Justice, under Attorney General Mukasey and his predecessors, has obtained injunctions against such improper and unethical behavior.
See here for the complaints Owens references.
The Rev. Richard Bacon closed the sermon at Faith Presbyterian Church Reformed of Mesquite, Texas, with the words, "We must vote against the candidacy of Sen. Barack Obama. Amen." The Rev. Cliff Samson, pastor of The First Baptist Church of Yorba Linda in California, railed against Sen. Obama for his opposition to an Illinois Senate bill. He appeared to be referring to a 2001 bill that would have granted rights to a "live child" born after an unsuccessful abortion. "I cannot vote for this man!" Mr. Samson said.
Some pastors chose to make a recommendation, but not a clear endorsement. At Anchor Baptist Church in Mechanicsville, Va., the Rev. Kenneth Card highlighted the candidates' positions on abortion and on gay marriage. "If you are a Christian, can you truly support a candidate who stands opposite the word of God?" Mr. Card asked. . . .
Briefed on the content of the sermons by Messrs. Card, Emrich and Bacon, Donald Tobin, associate law-school dean at Ohio State University and a former Justice Department attorney, said they all broke the law. . . .
Individual pastors will be responsible for forwarding transcripts of their sermons to the IRS, said Erik Stanley, the Alliance Defense Fund's senior legal counsel.
When should the voice of the church focus on government action? Big question, with ditches on each side.
Posted by: KarenG | September 29, 2008 at 07:03 AM
Melissa,
I am stunned by the seemingly non-critical assessment of these candidates on the basis of more than simply TWO issues which, on the surface, disagree with Christian scripture. Is anyone in the pulpit talking about Americas destructive war practices in foreign countries? Does anyone acknowledge the "sins" of America on its own soil(ex. the vast economic disparity between the rich and poor) and on the soil of nations that don't belong to us nor sanction our self-proclaimed mission to bring "democracy" to their region?
I could say much more but I'll press the pause button on my rant for now. Thanks for keeping the general public posted on this and other very important matters of faith and government. See you soon for further discourse!!!
H. Justin Rascoe
Posted by: Justin Rascoe | September 29, 2008 at 08:18 AM
Recognizing that people of faith may differ in their policy positions and the political candidates they support, the reports we have seen thus far do seem to indicate that these pastors defined commitments to life and justice in a very narrow way. Thanks for speaking your mind, Justin.
Posted by: Melissa Rogers | September 30, 2008 at 06:37 AM