Los Angeles, USA - The IRS threat to revoke the tax-exempt status of All Saints Episcopal Church in Pasadena because of an antiwar sermon there during the 2004 presidential election is part of a larger, controversial federal probe of political activity at churches and nonprofit groups.
Over the past year, the Internal Revenue Service has looked at more than 100 tax-exempt organizations across the United States for allegations of promoting -- either explicitly or implicitly -- candidates on both ends of the political spectrum, according to the IRS. None has lost its nonprofit status, though investigations continue into about 60 of those.
The IRS denies any political motivation behind the initiative it started last year. The Treasury Department's inspector general found in February that there was some mismanagement of the investigations but no indication of them being used as a political tool to silence critics of the Bush administration.
However, the IRS action has triggered an unusual coalition of critics who say they are concerned about the impact on freedom of speech and religion.
When Ted Haggard, head of the 30-million-member National Association of Evangelicals, heard about the All Saints case this week, he told his staff to contact the National Council of Churches, a more liberal group. Haggard said he personally supports the war in Iraq and probably would not agree with much in the Rev. George Regas' 2004 sermon at All Saints, which was cited by the IRS as the basis for its probe. But Haggard said he wants to work with the church council "in doing whatever it takes to get the IRS to stop" such actions.
"It is a violation of the Constitution for the IRS to threaten that church. It may not be a violation of IRS regulations, but IRS regulations have been wrong," said Haggard, pastor of the 12,000-member New Life Church in Colorado Springs.
Robert Edgar, general secretary of the National Council of Churches, cheered when he heard of Haggard's offer, which Edgar said represented a rare reaching out by the evangelical group to the council.
Edgar, a United Methodist minister, former Democratic congressman from Pennsylvania and ex-president of the Claremont School of Theology, said the IRS move against All Saints appeared to be "a political witch hunt on George Regas and progressive ideology. It's got to stop." He noted Regas didn't endorse a candidate in the sermon.
Edgar said he did not favor the bill repeatedly introduced by North Carolina Republican Congressman Rep. Walter Jones, R-N.C., that would allow pastors to endorse candidates without putting their tax-exempt status at risk. Existing law is adequate, as enforcement does not vary for churches with different ideologies, Edgar said.
The tax code prohibits nonprofits from "participating or intervening in any political campaign on behalf of, or in opposition to, any candidate for public office." The ban includes endorsements, donations, fund raising, or any other activity "that may be beneficial or detrimental to any particular candidate."
Advocating for ballot initiatives is a separate issue, tax experts said. Churches and other tax-exempt organizations are allowed to engage in lobbying as long as "a substantial part of the organizations activities is not intended to influence legislation."
Savvy churches make sure they don't draw unwanted attention from the IRS, church officials and others said.
When elections near, the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles sometimes sends reminders to local parishes of its guidelines on political action. "We don't endorse or oppose candidates, but we can endorse ballot propositions when there is a moral or ethical issue involved," said archdiocese spokesman Tod Tamberg.