What a good idea. A group of conservative Christians is about to turn Big Government against some of its staunchest proponents: liberal churches.
Big Brother Church Watch is sending spies into liberal churches to find out if they advocate a particular politician while preaching in the pulpit:
If there is any indication of an endorsement of, or objection to, a specific political candidate, the group has said it will report that church to the Internal Revenue Service, which could revoke their tax-exempt status.The group is targeting so-called “liberal churches” such as the Metropolitan Community churches, Unitarian Universalist fellowships and African Methodist Episcopal churches.
Note that the reporter writes so-called and places parentheses around liberal churches. I guess Ms. Allen doesn’t think there’s any such thing. Generally, liberal churches are those that accept certain parts of the Bible and reject others, usually the essential parts. For example:
“We’ve got nothing to hide,” said the Rev. Stephanie Burns [woman], pastor at the Metropolitan Community Church of Fredericksburg. “We do make available voter registration materials and focus on issues in our community, but we lobby the issue within the limitation of our 501(c)(3) status.”The Metropolitan Community Church is a Christian denomination reaching out primarily to the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered community. [Do they reject the lifestyle while accepting the person or "preach" that whatever the person wants to do is OK with God?]
The Rev. Jeff Jones, senior minister at the local Unitarian Universalist Fellowship [denies the deity of Christ], said he has no concerns of the monitors.
“We are involved in social justice issues,” he said. “But we stay focused on issues, not parties or candidates.”
I have to note that the issue of women pastors is not considered essential Christian doctrine.
I grew up attending predominantly black churches, but I never noticed veiled political “preaching” until I attended a black church in D.C. I’d writhe in my seat (was I the only one?) as the preacher or guest speakers asked why Americans were “killing babies in Iraq” or that a “certain politician” was trying to turn back the clock on civil rights, etc.
The preacher never said, “Don’t vote for Bush” or “Put John Kerry in the White House”, so should this be permissible? Or is freedom of speech an issue?
I was even treated to a “black” interpretation of Scripture. Ok, my excuse for even showing up at such a place was that I was looking for a new church, and until I found a good one, I attended the church closest to where I lived.
Since becoming a Christian, I’ve attended two conservative Reformed churches. Besides asking the congregation to “pray for our leaders”, I never heard either pastor advocate a particular candidate, veiled or otherwise.
There are some churches, as you know, that allow politicians to speak during services. John Kerry and John Edwards are at least two I know about. Plain wrong. If churches want the benefit of tax exemptions, they must meet certain obligations. No church is required to obtain an exemption, but if they choose to do so, they cannot openly campaign in church.
What exactly is a liberal church? More on this later.
By the way, will someone define “social justice?” I don’t get it.
Update: Avery comments on “social justice.”
