Non-profit Org Uses Tax Exempt Status to Subvert First Amendment

Americans United for Separation of Church and State defines itself as "a national non-profit religious liberty watchdog organization dedicated to preserving the Constitutional Rights of religious freedom guaranteed to all Americans in the First Amendment to our Constitution." Religious freedom includes, we presume, the right to practice one's religious faith. And what if that faith involves addressing the civil authorities with the law of God? Speaking in support of good candidates for office? What if it includes imprecatory prayers concerning God and the wicked; i.e. that He destroy the wicked in their unrepentant pursuit of evil doing? Is that okay?

The leftist AUSCS has been harassing orthodox (conservative) churches for years. It advocates for a false legal doctrine of "separation of church and state" and then applies it against those particular churches which hold a high (and traditional) view of the Scriptures and their relevant application to the pubic square. The AUSCS uses its own tax exempt status to harass and silence its political opponents.

"Pastor" Lynn Calls on IRS to Harass Pastor Wiley Drake (and others)

Pastor (of no local church) Barry Lynn of Americans United for the Separation of Church and State wants to shut down Southern Baptist Pastor Wiley Drake. While monitoring Drake's radio show, Lynn's spies heard him endorse Huckabee on the radio (www.crusaderadio.com) and observed the same in an August 11 press release. Lynn's AUSCS complained in a written note to the IRS on August 14, 2007 which resulted in harassment of Drake by the IRS with a letter on February 5, 2008 notifying Drake that his First Southern Baptist Church of Buena Park was being investigated. Pastor Drake then called for imprecatory prayers from fellow Christians: viz., that the Almighty would bring judgment upon his (and "His," presumably in the opinion or Rev. Drake and Christian co-workers and sympathizers) enemies by email on February 14. Lynn is outraged, indignant, horrified, and fashionably aghast.

Lynn was ordained by the apostate United Church of Christ and was a lawyer with the ACLU before taking over the reigns of the AUSCS in 1993. He has been a busy little bee ever since, always looking for signs of Christianity in the public square to oppose. And while focusing his attention on what has come to be known as churches of the "Christian Right," he takes no notice of, say, Al Sharpton or Jesse Jackson whose flagrant religious politicking for the Left he does not find objectionable.

And, pursuing a course outside the apparent boundary of his organization's stated purpose, he has been a champion of pornography (in the name of freedom). Such is the estimation of attorney Benjamin Bull with the Alliance Defense Fund who says, "Barry Lynn, for over 20 years, has been the mouthpiece for the pornography industry, arguing that all pornography -- including child pornography -- is protected by the First Amendment and that the government can do nothing to stop distribution of child pornography"[i]

His resume includes his attempt to enlist the IRS to abuse (the decedent) Jerry Falwell for speaking out against political leaders and their efforts to advance sodomy and abortion in the land. And he told Falwell that he wants eventually to have the motto, "In God We Trust," stricken from our money.[ii]

Lynn's organization more recently went after another church in Kansas, Spirit One Christian Center, which the AUSCS described as "a fundamentalist church that has long meddled in right-wing politics." [iii] According to AUSCS blogger Rob Boston, by posting a sign on church property which said, "ABORTIONIST TILLER HAS GIVEN $300,000 TO SEBELIUS. PRICE OF 1000 BABIES," they were crossing a line into possible illegal activity. "This reference was to Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, who was seeking reelection. The message attempted to tie her to George Tiller, a Wichita doctor who provides late-term abortions," according to Boston. Lynn's organization reported that a "Wichita resident snapped pictures of the marquee" and then boasted that "Americans United sent copies of the photos to the IRS and requested an investigation" and further claimed that subsequent IRS investigation of Spirit One was a product of their civic whistle blowing.[iv]

The pastor of Spirit One, Mark Holick, reported to World Net Daily that the IRS had raised questions about a voter information guide that was handed out in Wichita as well as an abortion-issue related e-mail he had forwarded. As Rev. Holick sees it, "These are not political issues, these are Gospel issues, Christian issues." [v] He also noted that the IRS even wanted to know whether Phil Kline, the Republican state attorney general, had ever spoken at the church and the details of his address.

We would disagree with both Rev. Holick and AUSCS on the dichotomy they proffer between politics and Gospel. Holick contradicts himself on this point when he says concerning the messages on his marquee, "The purpose is to obey the Lord, proclaim His Word (the Gospel), and establish the Kingdom." Indeed! And to speak of establishing the Kingdom is to speak of political matters: justice, law, and rulers. Lynn and his AUSSC know this; they simply advocate for a twisted version of the Kingdom. And such "churches" which have supported sodomite and abortion rights get a pass from the AUSSC whenever they have their favorite politicians speak in their churches or when churches express their support for their politicians. Al Gore "mined Detroit's black churches" as "President Clinton, banished to the wings, preached at two Washington-area black churches, trying to excite likely Gore voters to turn out on Election Day" in the 2000 election campaign[vi] and repeated the same tactic in the 2004 campaign for Kerry.[vii] But "Pastor" Lynn is only interested in separating Evangelical churches and the state.

Take, for example, the Detroit United Church of Christ church hosting of vice presidential candidate Joe Lieberman in late August during the 2000 presidential campaign where he declared, "As a people, we need to reaffirm our faith and renew the dedication of our nation and ourselves to God and to God's purposes."[viii] They made no complaint to the IRS; they just wrote a note of warning to Lieberman! During that same campaign the did make two complaints to the IRS regarding churches which (again) actually hosted Democratic candidates in their pulpits in Detroit and in Alexandria, Virginia. (Did AUSCS they really have a choice if it wanted to attempt to maintain their appearance as neutral, Constitution-upholding organization?)

Or take the current Presidential campaign. Barak Hussein Obama was invited to speak at the June 2007 United Church of Christ national convention in Hartford, Connecticut. This is not simply a hint of endorsement from a local church and its pastor, but an endorsement by an entire (ultra-liberal) denomination. The IRS is investigating the United Church of Christ (no thanks to Barry Lynn and his AUSCS). "We did not file a complaint with the IRS about the Obama appearance. We looked into the situation and did not see a violation of IRS rules. We saw no evidence of UCC officials seeking to appear to endorse his candidacy," said Lynn.[ix]

Right.

1  2  3  blog