A liberal,
pro-gay church in Pasadena, Calif., that has been threatened
with the loss of its tax-exempt status over an antiwar
sermon delivered just days before the 2004
presidential election said Thursday it will fight an
IRS order to turn over documents on the matter. "We're going
to put it in their court and in a court of law so that we
can get an adjudication to some very fundamental issue
here that we see as an intolerable infringement of
rights," Bob Long, senior warden of All Saints Church,
told the Associated Press.
Long said the
church's 26-member vestry voted unanimously to resist IRS
demands for documents and an interview with the
congregation's rector by the end of the month. The
church's action sets up a high-profile confrontation
between the church and the IRS, which now must decide
whether to ask for a hearing before a judge, who would then
decide on the validity of the agency's demands.
IRS spokesman
Terry Lemons would not comment specifically on
the dispute but noted in a statement that the agency
could take a church to court. "We recognize the
constitutional rights of freedom of speech and
religion," Lemons said. "But there is no
constitutional right to be exempt from federal taxation."
Religious leaders
on the right and left have expressed fear that the
dispute could make it more difficult for them to speak out
on what they consider to be moral issues, including
same-sex marriage and abortion, during the midterm
election campaign. At a news conference Thursday,
church officials were flanked by about 40 representatives of
mosques, synagogues, and other churches. "We smell
intimidation, it smells rotten, and we should not
allow any aspect of intimidation to be directed to any
member of our great country," said Maher Hathout, senior
adviser of the Muslim Public Affairs Council.
Under federal tax
law, church officials can legally discuss politics, but
to retain tax-exempt status, they cannot endorse candidates
or parties. The dispute at the 3,500-member Episcopal
church centers on a sermon titled "If Jesus Debated
Senator Kerry and President Bush," delivered by a
guest pastor. Though he did not endorse a candidate, he
said Jesus would condemn the Iraq war and Bush's doctrine of
preemptive war.
According to the
IRS, the only church ever to be stripped of its
tax-exempt status for partisan politicking was a church near
Binghamton, N.Y., that ran full-page newspaper ads
against President Clinton during the 1992 election
season. (AP)
