IRS Thinks Barack Obama Speech Isn't Political

• Posted by Christopher Estep on May 22, 2008
• 0 comments

Setting aside for a moment my objections to the free speech restrictions that the IRS place on pastors and candidates in order to bully them with their tax-exempt status, I had to laugh when I saw this. 

HARTFORD, Conn. — The Internal Revenue Service says the United Church of Christ did not violate rules when it hosted Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama at its convention in Hartford, Connecticut, last year.

In a letter to the national church, the tax agency says it found the UCC had taken the necessary steps to avoid any appearance that the Obama event was political.

Let's get real.  Barack Obama doesn't have an apolitical bone in his body.  Everything he says, everything he does is calculated for political advantage and this becomes more evident with each dissemblance and excuse over his past statements and positions.  It is laughable to state that any speech by any presidential candidate is not political in its intent and content as well.

However, I can't set aside my objection to the free speech restrictions after all.  It's a subject about which I'm very passionate, as I am about freedom of religion which comprise 2/3 of the First Amendment. 

I've always been a strict constructionist when reading the Constitution.  The words are plain in the conception and that plainness is amplified by the intent of the Founders in their many writings of the period.  I don't believe that the USC needs to be "interpreted" nor do I believe it is a "living document" outside of its own prescribed method of amendment.

I don't see how it can be held that a church supporting a political candidate is not a violation of its freedom of religion.  Congress, by way of the IRS, has literally dictated the parameters of what constitutes worship.  Oh sure, one could say that they're not restricted but they just have conditions for their tax exempt status.  That's bullplop as much as it is extortion.  Revocation of tax exemption is a fine in reverse and everyone knows it.

Furthermore, who is Congress (again by way of the IRS) to tell Barack Obama or any political candidate that they can't say whatever they want, just because of the location?  Doesn't this sound a bit fascist?  Doesn't this sound a lot fascist??

If a church wants to say, "you should vote for Obama" or "you shouldn't vote for Mitt Romney" and do it from the pulpit, that's fine with me.  If they want to turn their church into a political organization, that's also fine with me.  Heck, I don't care if they use church facilities for fundraising.  It's all a matter of principle.  You can't tell a church that their religion can't have political tenets and you can't tell pastors and politicians what they can't say.  These are two of the very founding principles of the Constitution and we've let Congress (with the help of McCain, ironically) chip away at free speech far too long.  It's a joke that the IRS says that a church can be political but they can't support specific candidates.

It's a good thing they didn't have the IRS in Israel, huh?  Otherwise you would have Bible verses that look like this.

IRS OKs Obama Appearance at Church Convention - America’s Election HQ