From the Columbia Tribune:The Internal Revenue Service might have succeeded where generations of theologians have failed, uniting religious liberals and conservatives, at least for a moment.This may surprise the Cabal of Liberal Readers, but I really don't have a problem with what the rector did. I'd have exercised my rights to free speech and religion by getting on up outta that church, but I sure won't deny the guy his right to preach what he thinks is right.
A move by the tax agency to investigate the tax-exempt status of a liberal Episcopal church in California for a sermon on the eve of President George W. Bush’s re-election has upset the religious right and left. And it has focused new attention on an effort to remove a federal prohibition against electioneering from the pulpit.
Since 1954, federal law has prohibited all tax-exempt organizations, including houses of worship, from endorsing or opposing political candidates. They are free to advocate for or against political and social issues, including ballot propositions, or U.S. Supreme Court nominees.
The IRS is investigating All Saints Episcopal in Pasadena to determine whether a sermon by former rector George Regas on Oct. 31, 2004, constituted an endorsement of Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry.
That goes for both sides of the aisle...
