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Forwarded as recent information, not as an endorsement of practices or beliefs. - Forwarder
New Hampshire
Episcopal Bishop V. Gene Robinson's declaration of support for Sen. John Kerry during an address at Franklin Pierce College last week raised a few eyebrows and posed a few questions about clergymen and politics.
Some observers said the influential churchman had crossed that unforgiving line separating his clerical role as conduit between God and man from his individual role as an advocate for a political candidate, in this case the Democratic Party candidate for President of the United States.
Others wondered if Robinson had also endangered the Internal Revenue Service Code benefits enjoyed by the Episcopal Diocese, tax exemptions that are predicated on church adherence to strictly defined political neutrality.
But, though the Internal Revenue Service code does prohibit the conduct of partisan politics, including endorsement, by churches and other religious organizations, the restriction doesn't extend to church officials when they are speaking OFF CHURCH PROPERTY and when they acknowledge they are expressing their own opinions and not that of their church.
A perusal of the relevant tax code shows that had Robinson stated his support for Kerry from the pulpit or anywhere else on church grounds, or had he done so anywhere without making it clear it was his own opinion, there might have been tax consequences for the Episcopal Diocese. But he did not.
U.S. income tax section 501(c)(3) grants federal tax exemptions to churches and other charitable organizations, with the proviso that they not support any political party or any candidate for public office.
State law also provides an exemption from real estate taxes to charitable organizations providing they own the real estate and restrict its use to charitable purposes. The statute, RSA 72:23, doesn't prohibit political activity, but Manchester attorney Brad Cook says if the federal government revoked an organization's tax-exempt status, the state might 'take a look' at that organization, too.
Tax code and ethics
Conversations with attorney Cook and various Protestant, Catholic and Jewish churchmen reveal nearly unanimous support of the rightness of the 50-year-old federal tax-exemption code, but with somewhat diverging views on the ethics underlying the expression of opinions on parties and candidates by church and temple leaders.
The Rev. Garrett Lear opposes anything that, according to his historical research, smacks of government control of churches. That includes 501(c)(3).
The leader of the Well of Living Water Christian Fellowship, A NON-HIERARCHICAL 'New Testament' church, says, 'Church freedom from government control is one of the major issues today.
'The Bible doesn't say the government gave us the right to God,' says Lear, who prefers the title, patriot/pastor.
'Our founding fathers knew this,' Lear said. 'They knew their Bible inside and out and they wanted to be sure the church would never be muzzled.'
Lear has preached in New Hampshire for more than nine years, until recently in rented quarters in the North Hampton Town Hall. Lear now lives in Wakefield and gives guidance to the approximately 60 New Hampshire parishioners who CONDUCT THEIR CHURCH SERVICES IN SEVERAL HOMES KNOWN AS 'HOUSE CHURCHES.' Lear says there are a couple of hundred people starting similar churches in other parts of the country.
Lear reserves the right to share his feelings on matters of politics but doesn't believe in instructing his parishioners how to vote.
'If someone asks me who to vote for,' Lear says, 'I ask, 'Do you believe in abortion?'' among other questions on issues on which candidates have made their positions known.
'What I try to teach people is vote your conscience,' Lear said. 'It becomes a little difficult in some circumstances because there aren't a lot of choices.
'But I do not tell people to 'vote the lesser of two evils,'' Lear says. 'I say, vote your conscience.'
continued at: http://www.theunionleader.com/articles_showfast.html?article=46358
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