Inside
The First Amendment The case against All Saints: Has the IRS gone
too far?
Commentary By Charles C. Haynes, First Amendment Center
Taking pleasure in the pain of others isn't the Christian
thing to do. But conservative churches may be forgiven
for feeling a bit of schadenfreude after the revelation
this month that the Internal Revenue Service is threatening
to revoke the tax-exempt status of All Saints Episcopal
Church in Pasadena, Calif. - one of the nation's largest
liberal congregations.
Many evangelicals have been complaining for years
that IRS regulations muzzle free speech of clergy
from the pulpit. Now that people on the left are stirred
up by the IRS threat against All Saints, people on
the right are hoping to find common cause in challenging
the IRS.
The IRS investigation of All Saints was triggered
by a sermon preached by the church's former rector,
the Rev. George Regas, two days before the 2004 presidential
election. Although Regas stated up front that he wasn't
telling anyone how to vote, he went on to deliver
a blistering attack on the Bush administration's policies,
especially the war in Iraq. "Jesus places on
your heart this question," said Regas: "When
you go to the polls this November, will you vote all
your values?"
Under IRS regulations for tax-exempt religious organizations,
clergy are free to preach about moral or political
issues, but may not "participate in, or intervene
in any political campaign on behalf of (or in opposition
to) any candidate" for public office. Did Regas
cross the line? The IRS says yes, the church says
no.
If you listen to the sermon (online at www.allsaints-pas.org),
it's not hard to figure out how Regas hoped his congregants
would vote. But if an implied endorsement rises to
the level of a tax-code violation, then what can any
preacher safely say about public policy during an
election campaign? The answer, apparently, depends
on how much partisanship IRS officials read into the
sermon.
For many churches, liberal and conservative, all of
this adds up to subjective decisions based on vague
guidelines by IRS officials who may have a partisan
axe to grind. Robert Edger, general secretary of the
National Council of Churches, told the Los Angeles
Times that the IRS action against All Saints appeared
to be "a political witch hunt."
Many evangelical leaders are equally convinced that
IRS investigations unfairly target their churches.
Meanwhile, advocacy groups on both ends of the spectrum
are ramping up efforts to monitor churches they suspect
are violating IRS regulations.
With spies slipping into pews - and more than 60 nonprofits
currently under investigation (according to the IRS)
- is it time to change the rules? Rep. Walter A. Jones,
R-N.C., certainly thinks so. His Houses of Worship
Free Speech Restoration Act would amend the IRS code
to allow endorsements of political candidates from
the pulpit. The bill would only affect speech during
worship services or gatherings, leaving in place the
ban on participation in campaign activity for or against
political candidates.
With 165 cosponsors in the House of Representatives
(all but a handful are Republicans) and support from
most conservative Christian organizations, the Jones
bill has a fair shot at passage. Will this latest
threat to All Saints bring liberal churches and Democrats
on board? Not likely.
Even if many liberals are outraged by IRS actions,
they aren't ready to lift the ban on political endorsements
from the pulpit. As Elliot Mincberg of People for
the American Way explained in an interview, a core
problem with the Jones bill is that it singles out
religious groups for preferential treatment. He argues
that allowing only religious groups and not other
tax-exempt nonprofits to endorse candidates is not
only unfair - it may violate the establishment clause
of the First Amendment.
Americans United for Separation of Church and State
warns on its Web site that the Jones bill would circumvent
campaign laws by using tax-deductible contributions
to fund partisan campaigns. "People donate to
their houses of worship," says AU's Barry Lynn,
"knowing those donations are not going to support
a politician's campaign."
The answer from some on the liberal side: Keep the
IRS regulations, but make sure the ground rules are
clear. Mincberg calls for new guidelines that "draw
the line" in ways less open to subjective interpretation
by IRS officials.
However much left and right disagree about the solution,
many on both sides agree there's a problem.
When news of the All Saints case broke, the Los Angeles
Times reported that Ted Haggard, head of the National
Association of Evangelicals, immediately reached out
to the liberal National Council of Churches, vowing
to do "whatever it takes to get the IRS to stop."
Confronted with this holy alliance, the IRS may now
wish it had left All Saints Episcopal Church alone.
The agency offered to drop the case, but only if the
church admitted that the sermon crossed the line.
All Saints refused. Now the IRS must either revoke
the tax-exempt status of a church because of one anti-war
sermon - or back off and admit that IRS officials
went too far.
Whatever the outcome of this conflict - whether we
end by erasing the lines or drawing new ones - this
is a debate worth having. Religious freedom doesn't
mean much if houses of worship are intimidated by
the IRS when they speak out on matters of conscience.
Charles C. Haynes is senior scholar at the First
Amendment Center, 1101 Wilson Blvd., Arlington, Va.
22209. Web: www.firstamendmentcenter.org. E-mail:
chaynes@freedomforum.org.
