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IRS Complaint Filed Against Minnesota Church After Pastor Endorses Candidate
As reported by the AP, The IRS received a complaint alleging that a pastor in a Brooklyn Park, MN church violated the terms of the church's tax exempt status when he personally endorsed a Congressional candidate in an event at the church. Speaking from the pulpit, Rev. Mac Hammond said that while the church could not endorse any candidate, "I can tell you, personally, that I'm going to vote for Michele Bachmann." The Washington watchdog group, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics, the group that filed the complaint, said that this statement violated federal tax law, and that it would not rescind the complaint.
Watchdog groups like this one are working to stifle the free speech rights of religious leaders around the country. Priests, Rabbis and the like must be allowed to speak their conscious and preach their faith, and they have a constitutionally protected right to do so. Read the whole article here.