Gay Today: World

Appeals Court Rules Against
a Politicking Church

Compiled By GayToday

Washington, D.C.--A unanimous ruling by a federal appeals court in Washington yesterday should put an end to Religious Right efforts to draft churches into partisan political efforts, according to Americans United for Separation of Church and State.

The Rev. Barry Lynn

"This decision slams the door on mixing religion and partisan politics," said the Rev. Barry W. Lynn, executive director of Americans United. "This is a staggering defeat for Pat Robertson, Jerry Falwell and others who want to convert America's churches into a partisan political machine."

The case, Branch Ministries v. Rossotti, concerned a fundamentalist Christian church near Binghamton, N.Y., that took full-page ads in USA Today and The Washington Times on October 30, 1992, warning people that voting for then-presidential candidate Bill Clinton was a "sin."

Headlined "Christian Beware," the ad, placed by the Church at Pierce Creek, asserted that Clinton supported legal abortion, gay rights and condom distribution in public schools and this made him unacceptable as a candidate. It also appealed for tax-deductible contributions to pay for running similar ads in other publications.

After the ad ran, Americans United reported the church to the Internal Revenue Service, noting that federal tax law bars churches and other non-profit groups from endorsing or opposing candidates for public office. In January 1995, the IRS revoked the church's tax-exempt status. The church, aided by Robertson's American Center for Law and Justice, sued the IRS to get it back.

On March 30, 1999, a federal court in Washington upheld the IRS action. Yesterday's unanimous ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit affirms that decision.

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"This is an extraordinarily important ruling," said Lynn. "All over the country, Religious Right figures like Robertson, Falwell and others are trying to lure churches into jumping head first into politics. This decision should bring those efforts to a grinding halt."

Lynn noted that Falwell has launched a plan to mobilize millions of new voters to help elect Republican presidential candidate George W. Bush and that Robertson plans to distribute millions of Christian Coalition "voter guides" on Bush's behalf.

"In light of this ruling, pastors who allow partisan politicking in the sanctuary are jeopardizing their church's tax exemption," Lynn said.

Continued Lynn: "Robertson's attorneys have been telling churches for years that they can get involved in electioneering without worry. Quite simply, this decision proves that they don't know what they are talking about. From now on, all religious leaders should look at Robertson's advice in this area with extreme skepticism."

Additional information:

Pious Politicking Penalized: Federal Court Upholds Internal Revenue Service Action Against New York Church For Partisan Electioneering (May 1999 Church & State: www.au.org/cs5991.htm