Is This America? Is This Separation of Church and State? And Who Set the IRS on Obama's Church?

A BUZZFLASH NEWS ANALYSIS
by Christine Bowman

Surely one of the greatest things, and a defining characteristic of the United States of America in contrast to the rest of the world, is our Constitutionally guaranteed separation of church and state. It gives us the freedom to worship or not; it gives our political leaders the responsibility to work for all Americans, not just for their own religious camp; it gives the religious organizations the freedom to meet and speak and honor their unique spiritual traditions without fear of political interference. Right?

Wrong. At least, not lately, and not in certain cases.

On Monday, February 25, the national headquarters of the United Church of Christ, Senator and presidential candidate Barack Obama's church, received a letter from the IRS questioning whether the church "has engaged in political activities that could jeopardize its tax-exempt status." They were given 15 days to respond.

The IRS is scrutinizing specifically an address given by Barack Obama last June. Church leaders appear confident that all rules for tax-exempt groups were met, and they clearly address the issues in a post to their website February 26. If they're correct, then does the IRS probe constitute harassment and a Bush administration breach of First Amendment rights?

The Rev. John H. Thomas, the UCC's general minister and president, called the investigation "disturbing" but said the investigation would reveal that the church did nothing improper or illegal.

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."

Obama's General Synod speech prompts IRS to investigate UCC's tax-exempt status

Appropriate outrage is reported in the political blog of The Hartford [CT] Courant:

Hartford Mayor Eddie A. Perez asked Congress today to investigate the IRS' threat to strip the United Church of Christ of its tax-exempt status over Barack Obama's speech to a church convention in Hartford in 2007.

"If the IRS is successful, every church synagogue and mosque that invites an elected official to speak on issues such as the war in Iraq, abortion, the environment, labor and other issues of social justice could fear loss of their non-profit status," Perez said.

He is asking U.S. Sens. Christopher Dodd and Joseph Lieberman and U.S. Rep. John B. Larson to intervene.

"This IRS action should outrage members of both parties and people of faith throughout the country," Perez said.

IRS Threatens Church's Tax Status Over Obama's Hartford Speech; Perez Asks Congress to Investigate IRS

The Bush administration is famous for embracing select religious causes, blurring the line between church and state and catering to the religious right wing that helped them win office in 2000 and 2004. The Terri Schiavo circus in Washington was just one of many examples of that shameful political strategy.

Furthermore, the Bush administration also has pushed the envelope of executive power when it comes to meddling in all kinds of government departments to gain a political edge -- in the Department of Justice, with political tainting of the US attorney appointments, for instance, and with top-down interference in scientific reports from NASA -- basically, giving departments under White House influence a mandate to further political goals at the cost of neutrality.

Well, now we have the IRS probing Barack Obama's church. A church that condones activism, but whose members lean Democratic. What a coincidence. As the blog Attytood suggests, could there be a "Double Standard" here? (There were concerns of this nature in 2004, as well.)

Barack Obama discussed his faith at a large religious gathering during a campaign season. Just as George Bush and others have done.

Oddly enough, no government agency is investigating the President's spiritual advisers.

A BUZZFLASH NEWS ANALYSIS

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