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Jul. 16th, 2004 12:06 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
novapsycheCiting Falwell's Endorsement of Bush, Group Challenges His Tax-Exempt Status
Hoping to send a warning to churches helping the Bush campaign turn out conservative voters, a liberal group has filed a complaint with the Internal Revenue Service charging that an organization run by the Rev. Jerry Falwell has violated the requirements of its tax-exempt status by endorsing Mr. Bush's re-election.
"For conservative people of faith, voting for principle this year means voting for the re-election of George W. Bush," Mr. Falwell wrote in the July 1 issue of his e-mail newsletter "Falwell Confidential'' and on his Web site, falwell.com. "The alternative, in my mind, is simply unthinkable. To the pro-life, pro-family, pro-traditional marriage, pro-America voters in this nation, we must determine that President Bush is the man with our interests at heart. It is that simple."
He added: "I believe it is the responsibility of every political conservative, every evangelical Christian, every pro-life Catholic, every traditional Jew, every Reagan Democrat, and everyone in between to get serious about re-electing President Bush."
Mr. Falwell, who helped lead conservative evangelical Protestants into politics 20 years ago as the founder of the Moral Majority, also asked for contributions to a political action committee run by the social conservative Gary Bauer. "It is the organization that I believe can have the greatest impact in re-electing Mr. Bush to the Oval Office," he wrote.
Yesterday, the Rev. Barry Lynn, executive director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, argued in a letter to the I.R.S. that one of Mr. Falwell's religious organizations, Jerry Falwell Ministries, had disseminated the message in violation of tax rules, which restrict tax-exempt religious groups and charitable organizations from engaging in politics.
In an interview, Mr. Lynn said the complaint was also a response to the Bush campaign's effort to enlist thousands of pastors and churchgoers to help get members of conservative congregations to the polls.
"I certainly hope that this sends a clear message that religious organizations have got to operate within federal tax laws restricting partisan politicking," he said. "And I think the message is that the campaign has been reckless in its approach to churches, recklessly trying to lure them into political activities."
In an interview yesterday, Mr. Falwell said that an affiliated tax-exempt lobbying organization, not his religious organization, Jerry Falwell Ministries, had paid for the e-mail message and the Web site. Mr. Falwell also argued that his comments constituted only his personal view, and not an endorsement by his lobbying organization, Liberty Alliance.
"We report news, write editorials, etc., all of which is protected by the First Amendment," he said. Despite the urgency of his calls to "get serious about re-electing President Bush,'' Mr. Falwell said the lobbying organization "doesn't support candidates or endorse them.'' He said, "It speaks to moral and social issues and it does encourage contributions to organizations like Gary Bauer's."
Mr. Falwell defended the right of a pastor to endorse political candidates in his personal capacity, even from the pulpit. Mr. Falwell said he often did this at his church, the Thomas Road Baptist Church.
"I support President Bush,'' he said. "I support him on Sunday mornings from the pulpit where it doesn't cost the church or anybody anything. I make it very clear, just like at most African-American churches and many liberal churches, that as a tax-paying citizen I vote. And I tell people who I vote for."
He called Mr. Lynn's charges "a fright tactic" intended to silence conservative Christians. "His problem is that I am a Ronald Reagan, George Bush conservative evangelist," Mr. Falwell said.
Mathew D. Staver, president of Liberty Counsel, a legal group closely allied with Mr. Falwell, defended his right to make the political comments on the Web site and in the pulpit. "He is certainly able to give his personal opinion," Mr. Staver said.
But Milton Cerny, a Washington lawyer and the former chief of the I.R.S.'s tax-exempt rulings operations, said that Mr. Falwell appeared to be at least testing the boundaries of permitted political activity.
"Even if he claims he is speaking on his own behalf,'' Mr. Cerny said, "he is using that pulpit and he is using that church. So he is speaking as the church.''
As for the Web site, Mr. Cerny said that tax laws blocked even tax-exempt lobbying organizations from explicitly endorsing specific candidates, as Mr. Falwell did. "If they let him post it, it is still their activity," he said.
The ownership of the Web site is hard to determine. It is widely labeled "Jerry Falwell Ministries," which is the name of a charitable religious group he controls. A page on the site for donations by credit card is also labeled "Jerry Falwell Ministries," with no information about the tax status of the donations.
In the interview, Mr. Falwell said that the site was owned by his lobbying group, not by Jerry Falwell Ministries. He said the label on the site referred generically to the many ministries he runs. When a visitor makes a donation through the site, he said, the donor can use a "comments" box to direct it to a specific organization, or his organization directs it "where it is needed."
Mr. Cerny said the possibility for confusion between the organizations was also likely to run afoul of the I.R.S. "They would take a hard look at it and raise questions," he said.
In 1993, the tax-exempt religious organization that produces Mr. Falwell's Old Time Gospel Hour television program agreed to pay $50,000 in tax penalties for political activity in 1986 and 1987.
Because of Mr. Falwell's high-profile, just raising the issue against him again this year may have a dampening effect on other ministers' activities during the fall election.
Corwin Smidt, a political science professor at Calvin College who oversaw a survey of pastors during the 2000 election, said most members of the clergy were reluctant to make political statements even outside of church for fear of alienating some members of their congregations.
In the survey, Professor Smidt said, about 5 percent of all pastors and about 15 percent of African-American pastors said they had endorsed a candidate for public office from the pulpit.
Hoping to send a warning to churches helping the Bush campaign turn out conservative voters, a liberal group has filed a complaint with the Internal Revenue Service charging that an organization run by the Rev. Jerry Falwell has violated the requirements of its tax-exempt status by endorsing Mr. Bush's re-election.
"For conservative people of faith, voting for principle this year means voting for the re-election of George W. Bush," Mr. Falwell wrote in the July 1 issue of his e-mail newsletter "Falwell Confidential'' and on his Web site, falwell.com. "The alternative, in my mind, is simply unthinkable. To the pro-life, pro-family, pro-traditional marriage, pro-America voters in this nation, we must determine that President Bush is the man with our interests at heart. It is that simple."
He added: "I believe it is the responsibility of every political conservative, every evangelical Christian, every pro-life Catholic, every traditional Jew, every Reagan Democrat, and everyone in between to get serious about re-electing President Bush."
Mr. Falwell, who helped lead conservative evangelical Protestants into politics 20 years ago as the founder of the Moral Majority, also asked for contributions to a political action committee run by the social conservative Gary Bauer. "It is the organization that I believe can have the greatest impact in re-electing Mr. Bush to the Oval Office," he wrote.
Yesterday, the Rev. Barry Lynn, executive director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, argued in a letter to the I.R.S. that one of Mr. Falwell's religious organizations, Jerry Falwell Ministries, had disseminated the message in violation of tax rules, which restrict tax-exempt religious groups and charitable organizations from engaging in politics.
In an interview, Mr. Lynn said the complaint was also a response to the Bush campaign's effort to enlist thousands of pastors and churchgoers to help get members of conservative congregations to the polls.
"I certainly hope that this sends a clear message that religious organizations have got to operate within federal tax laws restricting partisan politicking," he said. "And I think the message is that the campaign has been reckless in its approach to churches, recklessly trying to lure them into political activities."
In an interview yesterday, Mr. Falwell said that an affiliated tax-exempt lobbying organization, not his religious organization, Jerry Falwell Ministries, had paid for the e-mail message and the Web site. Mr. Falwell also argued that his comments constituted only his personal view, and not an endorsement by his lobbying organization, Liberty Alliance.
"We report news, write editorials, etc., all of which is protected by the First Amendment," he said. Despite the urgency of his calls to "get serious about re-electing President Bush,'' Mr. Falwell said the lobbying organization "doesn't support candidates or endorse them.'' He said, "It speaks to moral and social issues and it does encourage contributions to organizations like Gary Bauer's."
Mr. Falwell defended the right of a pastor to endorse political candidates in his personal capacity, even from the pulpit. Mr. Falwell said he often did this at his church, the Thomas Road Baptist Church.
"I support President Bush,'' he said. "I support him on Sunday mornings from the pulpit where it doesn't cost the church or anybody anything. I make it very clear, just like at most African-American churches and many liberal churches, that as a tax-paying citizen I vote. And I tell people who I vote for."
He called Mr. Lynn's charges "a fright tactic" intended to silence conservative Christians. "His problem is that I am a Ronald Reagan, George Bush conservative evangelist," Mr. Falwell said.
Mathew D. Staver, president of Liberty Counsel, a legal group closely allied with Mr. Falwell, defended his right to make the political comments on the Web site and in the pulpit. "He is certainly able to give his personal opinion," Mr. Staver said.
But Milton Cerny, a Washington lawyer and the former chief of the I.R.S.'s tax-exempt rulings operations, said that Mr. Falwell appeared to be at least testing the boundaries of permitted political activity.
"Even if he claims he is speaking on his own behalf,'' Mr. Cerny said, "he is using that pulpit and he is using that church. So he is speaking as the church.''
As for the Web site, Mr. Cerny said that tax laws blocked even tax-exempt lobbying organizations from explicitly endorsing specific candidates, as Mr. Falwell did. "If they let him post it, it is still their activity," he said.
The ownership of the Web site is hard to determine. It is widely labeled "Jerry Falwell Ministries," which is the name of a charitable religious group he controls. A page on the site for donations by credit card is also labeled "Jerry Falwell Ministries," with no information about the tax status of the donations.
In the interview, Mr. Falwell said that the site was owned by his lobbying group, not by Jerry Falwell Ministries. He said the label on the site referred generically to the many ministries he runs. When a visitor makes a donation through the site, he said, the donor can use a "comments" box to direct it to a specific organization, or his organization directs it "where it is needed."
Mr. Cerny said the possibility for confusion between the organizations was also likely to run afoul of the I.R.S. "They would take a hard look at it and raise questions," he said.
In 1993, the tax-exempt religious organization that produces Mr. Falwell's Old Time Gospel Hour television program agreed to pay $50,000 in tax penalties for political activity in 1986 and 1987.
Because of Mr. Falwell's high-profile, just raising the issue against him again this year may have a dampening effect on other ministers' activities during the fall election.
Corwin Smidt, a political science professor at Calvin College who oversaw a survey of pastors during the 2000 election, said most members of the clergy were reluctant to make political statements even outside of church for fear of alienating some members of their congregations.
In the survey, Professor Smidt said, about 5 percent of all pastors and about 15 percent of African-American pastors said they had endorsed a candidate for public office from the pulpit.