RELIGIOUS RIGHT CHALLENGES SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE

In my posting on August 12th I reported that a group of rightwing churches were planning to challenge the IRS tax law restrictions on mixing politics with religion.

On Sunday, they did just that. According to a story in yesterday's Washington Post, Rev. Ron Johnson Jr. told his flock in Crown Point, Ind. that voting for Sen. Barack Obama would be evidence of "severe moral schizophrenia." He told his worshipers that the Democratic presidential nominee's positions on abortion and gay partnerships exist "in direct opposition to God's truth as He has revealed it in the Scriptures." Johnson went on to present a detailed, slide show enhanced presentation comparing John McCain to Barack Obama.

He was joined by 32 others across the country who did the same thing from their pulpits during Sunday morning's services. Their intention is to force a court case that they hope will end up in the Supreme Court. Once there, they feel certain that the right-leaning court will overturn the 54 year old ban on political endorsements by tax-exempt houses of worship.

The Arizona based Alliance Defense Fund, a socially conservative group of lawyers dedicated to realizing the Dominionist goal of marrying church and state, are the architects of this challenge. They, of course, have gotten the attention of the IRS. The agency has pledged to "monitor the situation and take action as appropriate."

This concerted effort by the religious right is not supported by the religious community as a whole. In an open letter Saturday, a United Church of Christ minister, the Rev. Eric Williams, warned that many members of the clergy are "exchanging their historic religious authority for a fleeting promise of political power," to the detriment of their churches.

"The role of the church -- of congregation, synagogue, temple and mosque -- and of its religious leaders is to stand apart from government, to prophetically speak truth to power," Williams wrote, "and to encourage a national dialogue that transcends the divisiveness of electoral politics and preserves for every citizen our 'first liberty.' "

The ball is now in the IRS's court. It will be interesting to see just how they handle this.

To read the full story, go to: Washington Post