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 for Tax-Exemption Loss Church/State Watchdogs Wrongly Accused by 3 Senators Republicans Goose-stepping for 700 Club's Pat Robertson |
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Compiled By GayToday
Washington, D.C.--Three members of the United States Senate have written to
the U.S. Department of Justice, seeking a criminal investigation of Americans United
for Separation of Church and State for allegedly trying to intimidate religious voters.
Americans United is a national church-state watchdog group based in Washington, D.C. Founded in 1947, it represents 60,000 members and allied houses of worship in all 50 states. In a July 2 letter to Attorney General Janet Reno, Senators Paul Coverdell (R-Ga.), Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) and Jesse Helms (R-N.C.) suggest that Americans United, through the group's attempts to educate churches about the dangers of mixing religion and politics, may have "attempted to disenfranchise religious voters by intimidating people of faith into not participating in the political process."
"Robertson met with the Republican Senate leadership, including Sen. Coverdell, on June 17," Lynn said. "Two weeks later, Coverdell, Sessions and Helms asked the attorney general for a criminal investigation of Robertson's most persistent and effective critic, offering no evidence to support their claim. The senators' letter also emphasized their support for what they refer to as the Christian Coalition's 'lawful activities.' "Americans United is being singled out for attack for a simple reason -- because we have the nerve to stand up to Pat Robertson and his Christian Coalition," Lynn added. "It is clear to us that the senators' request for an investigation is politically motivated. This is politics at its worst." To support their argument, the senators cite a June 24 Congressional Quarterly Daily Monitor article about a church-based voter registration drive by the Christian Coalition. Asked about the Coalition being denied a tax exemption by the Internal Revenue Service and how this might affect the registration effort, the article quoted Lynn as saying, "Because of the tax decision, churches will be reluctant to open their doors to the Christian Coalition." The article also reported that AU may write to churches in the future about avoiding potential tax law difficulties.
At this point, it is unclear if the Justice Department has plans to follow up on the senators' request and investigate AU. "If the Justice Department does decide to investigate us, it will be very easy to clear our name," Lynn said. "While I don't know if there will be an investigation, I do know it is reckless and irresponsible for these senators to ask for a criminal investigation of a citizens' group, without any evidence, simply because a TV preacher asked them to. "This appears to be a transparent effort on the part of Robertson and his friends in the Senate to intimidate us," Lynn concluded. "I have news for them -- it won't work." |
