By FishOutofWater
The IRS has threatened the whole United Church of Christ denomination with the loss of tax exempt status for allowing Barack Obama to speak at its General Synod in July, 2007.
The IRS letter says:
Because a reasonable belief exists that the United Church of Christ ("Church") has engaged in political activities that could jeopardize its tax exempt status as a church described in section 501(c)(3)
Senator Obama gave a strong affirmation of his faith, not a campaign speech.
So it's 1985, and I'm in Chicago, and I'm working with these churches, and with lots of laypeople who are much older than I am. And I found that I recognized in these folks a part of myself. I learned that everyone's got a sacred story when you take the time to listen. And I think they recognized a part of themselves in me too. They saw that I knew the Scriptures and that many of the values I held and that propelled me in my work were values they shared. But I think they also sensed that a part of me remained removed and detached – that I was an observer in their midst.
And slowly, I came to realize that something was missing as well – that without an anchor for my beliefs, without a commitment to a particular community of faith, at some level I would always remain apart, and alone.
And it's around this time that some pastors I was working with came up to me and asked if I was a member of a church. "If you're organizing churches," they said, "it might be helpful if you went to church once in a while." And I thought, "Well, I guess that makes sense."
So one Sunday, I put on one of the few clean jackets I had, and went over to Trinity United Church of Christ on 95th Street on the South Side of Chicago. And I heard Reverend Jeremiah A. Wright deliver a sermon called "The Audacity of Hope." And during the course of that sermon, he introduced me to someone named Jesus Christ. I learned that my sins could be redeemed. I learned that those things I was too weak to accomplish myself, He would accomplish with me if I placed my trust in Him. And in time, I came to see faith as more than just a comfort to the weary or a hedge against death, but rather as an active, palpable agent in the world and in my own life.
It was because of these newfound understandings that I was finally able to walk down the aisle of Trinity one day and affirm my Christian faith. It came about as a choice, and not an epiphany. I didn't fall out in church, as folks sometimes do. The questions I had didn't magically disappear. The skeptical bent of my mind didn't suddenly vanish. But kneeling beneath that cross on the South Side, I felt I heard God's spirit beckoning me. I submitted myself to His will, and dedicated myself to discovering His truth and carrying out His works.
The speech had political content, but, clearly, the speech was very much in the long tradition of political leaders speaking at churches. The UCC neither endorsed him nor allowed any political activity inside the convention center where he spoke. The Hartford Courant's editorial cuts to the chase.
The IRS is out of line. It is investigating the tax-exempt status of the United Church of Christ solely because its most famous member, Sen. Barack Obama, spoke at the church's annual conference last summer.
Tax laws bar nonprofits from supporting candidates, but not from listening to them. That right is protected by the same First Amendment that forbids government sponsorship of a religion.
The UCC had invited Mr. Obama to its 50th anniversary celebration long before he became a Democratic presidential candidate and household word.
He was, in fact, one of dozens of arts, business and other leaders speaking about faith and vocation at the Hartford Civic Center gathering in June.
The UCC went to great pains to ensure that Senator Obama's speech was a religious speech, not a campaign event.
Obama, an active member of the United Church of Christ for more than 20 years, addressed the UCC's 50th anniversary General Synod in Hartford, Conn., on June 23, 2007, as one of 60 diverse speakers representing the arts, media, academia, science, technology, business and government. Each was asked to reflect on the intersection of their faith and their respective vocations or fields of expertise. The invitation to Obama was extended a year before he became a Democratic presidential candidate.
"The United Church of Christ took great care to ensure that Senator Obama's appearance before the 50th anniversary General Synod met appropriate legal and moral standards,"
Thomas told United Church News.
"We are confident that the IRS investigation will confirm that no laws were violated."
Before Obama spoke to the national gathering of 10,000 UCC members, Associate General Minister Edith A. Guffey, who serves as administrator of the biennial General Synod, admonished the crowd that Obama's appearance was not to be a campaign-related event and that electioneering would not be tolerated. No political leaflets, signs or placards were allowed, and activity by the Obama campaign was barred from inside the Hartford Civic Center venue.
The IRS letter, however, complains that Obama supporters had tables outside the Hartford Civic Center. The IRS should be reminded that the Civic Center is public property, not church property. Obama's supporters had every right, if they obtained proper permits from Hartford, to set up tables on public property. Those tables were not associated with the church's activities inside of the Civic Center.
This investigation smacks of the Bush administration using the IRS for political purposes.