What in the Hell?!
Separation of church and state only applies to liberal churches

I was absolutely stunned to see the LATimes article Antiwar Sermon Brings IRS Warning.

After preachers and priests said in 2004 that it is a sin to vote for anyone who is pro-choice, guess which church is singled out for an IRS review? Why? An anti-war sermon. Sanctity of life seems to stop at birth for the IRS. My last post was hopeful; this one is mad. Below are excerpts:

The Internal Revenue Service has warned one of Southern California's largest and most liberal churches that it is at risk of losing its tax-exempt status because of an antiwar sermon two days before the 2004 presidential election.

Rector J. Edwin Bacon of All Saints Episcopal Church in Pasadena told many congregants during morning services Sunday that a guest sermon by the church's former rector, the Rev. George F. Regas, on Oct. 31, 2004, had prompted a letter
from the IRS.

In his sermon, Regas, who from the pulpit opposed both the Vietnam War and 1991's Gulf War, imagined Jesus participating in a political debate with then-candidates George W. Bush and John Kerry. Regas said that "good people of profound faith" could vote for either man, and did not tell parishioners whom to support.

But he criticized the war in Iraq, saying that Jesus would have told Bush, "Mr. President, your doctrine of preemptive war is a failed doctrine. Forcibly changing the regime of an enemy that posed no imminent threat has led to disaster."

On June 9, the church received a letter from the IRS stating that "a reasonable belief exists that you may not be tax-exempt as a church … " The federal tax code prohibits tax-exempt organizations, including churches, from intervening in political campaigns and elections.

The rest of the article makes clear that there was no attempt to dictate for whom the listeners should vote.

In an October letter to the IRS, Marcus Owens, the church's tax attorney and a former head of the IRS tax-exempt section, said, "It seems ludicrous to suggest that a pastor cannot preach about the value of promoting peace simply because the nation happens to be at war during an election season."

[. . . . ]

Some congregants were upset that a sermon citing Jesus Christ's championing of peace and the poor was the occasion for an IRS probe.

"I'm appalled," said 70-year-old Anne Thompson of Altadena, a professional singer who also makes vestments for the church."In a government that leans so heavily on religious values, that they would pull a stunt like this, it makes me heartsick."

It makes me heartsick, too, but also more determined than ever to work to redefine what are "Christian values." Can anyone read the New Testament and doubt that Jesus preached peace (how about the admonition to turn the other cheek)? Can anyone read the gospels and not hear Jesus speak about the sin of hoarding wealth or the need to take care of "the least of these"? There are dozens of references to both peace and poverty. Where does Jesus say that homosexuality is a sin?