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The Tax Man Goes to Church Why is the IRS in the business of reading sermons?
Opinionjournal.com published an Op-ed today addressing their concerns over the IRS delving into the content of sermons given at tax exempt religious organizations over the past two years. Organizations risk losing their tax exempt status if they "participate in, or intervene in . . . any political campaign on behalf of any candidate for political office." But this sort of content censorship is a troublesome proposition:
It is true that the prohibition on church-centered political activity is decades old. But it is also true, as the IRS admits, that there is no "bright line test" to determine what constitutes political activity. Churches have always tried to influence voters on moral issues. What is different now is that moral issues--abortion, stem-cell research, same-sex marriage, war--are now hot political issues, and the IRS is pushing religious communities out of the debate.
Not that the blame rests solely with the IRS. Barry W. Lynn, director of Americans United for the Separation of Church and State, has pushed for the crackdown by filing complaints with the IRS and boasting that his group is committed to "keeping churches out of partisanship." For a man who supports nearly every effort to erect a wall of separation, he seems not to mind sending IRS agents into churches if it keeps ministers out of politics.
Read the full article here.