Americans United for Separation of Church and State Threatens Pastors

The Rev. Barry W. Lynn, the Executive Director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State has sent a letter to approximately 100,000 pastors in the United States. The letter concerns "Election Season 2008" warning pastors to not make political statements and from endorsing or opposing candidates for public office. The consequences, Rev. Lynn warns, include a church or religious organization getting investigated by the Internal Revenue Service and losing tax exemption. The letter further warns that the IRS has announced heightened enforcement. "The tax agency has established an expedited process for dealing with reports of violations," Lynn said. He indicated that Pat Robertson's CBN and Jerry Falwell's "Old Time Gospel Hour" have been subject to audits and retroactive tax payments for violating the "no electioneering" rule.

What the Rev. Lynn didn't disclose in his warning letter to mostly conservative evangelical pastors is that he is an ordained United Church of Christ minister- in the same liberal denomination as his colleague, fellow ordained United Church of Christ minister Rev. Jeremiah Wright of "God damn America...the KKK of A" fame and Senator Barack Obama's former pastor.

It's odd that this letter cites to sanctions against conservative evangelicals like Southern Baptists Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell, but conveniently ignores the activities of liberal Jeremiah Wright. Americans United for the Separation of Church and State has on its site www.au.org an entire section criticizing the "Religious Right," but not a word on the Religious Left, including Jeremiah Wright with other liberals like Tony Campolo, Ron Sider, Brian McLaren, Jim Wallis, Jimmy Carter, and Rick Warren. Americans United insists that AU is looking for "solid evidence of illegal misuse of tax-exempt resources and filing complaints to the IRS on an even-handed basis when we find it."

"When a religious leader, acting in his official capacity, identifies a candidate in a specific election and tells his congregation to vote for or against that candidate, then it is an IRS violation. It makes no difference to us what party that candidate belongs to, and AU’s history proves that we really mean it. We are a nonpartisan organization, and we have filed IRS complaints about religious organizations working on behalf of (or against) Republican, Democratic and Independent candidates." Ameicans United does not appear to have investigated Jeremiah Wright and Trinity United Church of Christ.

Chick Fan Club President Richard Lee tore up this letter in front of his congregation behind the pulpit of his New Hope Center church after finding it on his church office desk on Sunday morning. Why would the Rev. Lynn care so much about a small conservative evangelical and Pentecostal church in rural Washington State possibly violating the IRS tax exempt laws but ignore his own denominational collegue in Chicago, Illinois at the liberal Trinity United Church of Christ who spouted such partisan anti-American hatred?
See Chick's "Escape"