BlogWood: MT Archives

Wingers Target Black Churches in Latest Voter Intimidation Tactic

Jeb! has been working hard to suppress the black vote here in Florida. The infamous purge list was just the tip of the iceberg. He and his brother know well that blacks, who traditionally vote overwhelmingly Democratic, could make the difference this year.

Today, the St. Pete Times reports on a rather sinister development. It seems that the IRS is investigating a traditionally black church in Tampa based on a campaign stop 2 years ago by Janet Reno, who was in a primary race for governor at the time.

Now, I have no problem with the IRS investigating valid complaints, but, especially when taken in the context of Florida’s purge list and other attempts to keep black voter turnout low, this situation seems troubling at least.

The parking lot at First Baptist Church of College Hill was filling up when a worker began telling people to leave.

The political forum at the historically black church would not be taking place, he said. At the last minute, it was being moved to a public library.

Inside a cramped room, moderator Gerald White explained the switch. That afternoon, the pastor had received a letter from the Internal Revenue Service asking about political activity at the church, a stop for many Democrats running for office.

The Rev. Abraham Brown didn't want to hold another political event when the IRS was asking questions, White said.

Why had the IRS turned its attention to this fixture in Tampa's black community?

Both the IRS and Brown declined to comment. White said the letter sent by the IRS last month asked about a 2-year-old visit by then-gubernatorial candidate Janet Reno.

Experts say it's likely someone complained to the IRS about Reno's stop.

Across the nation, people are turning to the IRS to keep pastors from promoting political agendas. It is happening in a year when both presidential campaigns are increasingly using churches as a way to reach voters.

The Bush campaign has courted evangelical Christians, including asking for church mailing lists in some states. Democrat John Kerry has campaigned at black churches and invoked his faith in speeches. In July, Kerry's running mate stumped at a black church in Orlando.

As the political influence of churches grows, opponents are wielding the tax code as a weapon against them.

"It could have a chilling effect," said state Rep. Arthenia Joyner, a Tampa Democrat who is African-American. "I see it as a way to try to intimidate people, but I think it's not going to work."

In August, Democratic National Committee chairman Terry McAuliffe urged congregants at a black church in Miami to defeat President Bush. Two days later, Americans United for Separation of Church and State reported the church to the IRS.

The IRS prohibits churches from campaigning, unless they want to pay taxes as other political groups do.

The group has filed about 50 complaints against churches - from Jerry Falwell Ministries for endorsing Bush in July to a black church in Los Angeles, where former President Bill Clinton urged people to oppose the recall of then-Gov. Gray Davis.

"It is good for the country that religious organizations are not asked to be cogs in the wheel of any political party," said the Rev. Barry Lynn, executive director of Americans United.

Americans United (AU) routinely files complaints against churches for overstepping the bounds. AU does not target candidates or churches based on their party affiliation of political leanings. AU is not mentioned here as the source of this complaint about an incident 2 years ago.

In fact, AU is probably not interested in that incident, since it is so old, and since there are no prohibitions against having candidates simply visit churches. (PDF file) It is a routine occurrence, as the article points out later.

So, why is this predominantly African American church being targeted now? It seems that the religious right, as part of their never ending quest to move this country so far toward their end of the spectrum that centrists are portrayed as raging liberals, has set up an organization to “counter” AU.

It is exactly because AU is non-partisan that it needs to be countered. See, AU thinks that “Houses Of Worship Should Not Be Part Of A Political Machine”. They want politics out. Period. Liberal, conservative, all of it. They know the law, and they strive to ensure that it is fairly enforced.

So some religious winger types started an organization called RatOutAChurch.Org, whose

immediate purpose is to fight back against vicious left-wing attempts to silence conservative, Bible believing pastors.

That quote is found right at the top of their homepage, but I found the following passage, from one of their press releases, much more illuminating.

William J. Murray, the president of the Religious Freedom Action Coalition, a social conservative group, announced the formation of a group to monitor traditionally liberal churches for political activity. The new group, Big Brother Church Watch, functions primarily through its Internet site at www.RatOutaChurch.org!

The newly formed organization has already placed monitors in politically active Metropolitan Community, Unitarian/Universalist, and AME churches. AME churches are predominately African-American and their pastors frequently endorse liberal Democrat candidates from the pulpit. Volunteer workers will also be monitoring Internet sites of Democratic candidates and following them to churches where they have announced they will speak. If pastors allow the Democrat candidates to speak and do not invite their opponents for equal time, the church will be reported to the Internal Revenue Service as a "violator."

According to Out In The Mountians The Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches sees RatOutaChurch.org as a direct response to an AU complaint against Jerry Falwell:

The organization's website proclaims its mission as "Ending Radical Left-Wing Politics In The Pulpit." Quoting from the website: "We are actively recruiting volunteers to attend services of churches known to have liberal leanings and report to us anything said from the pulpit that may be construed as 'endorsement' of a candidate. We intend to file complaints with the IRS against these churches that overtly endorse candidates or who use 'code words' to tell congregations to vote for a specific party."

The MCC notice suggested that the RatOutaChurch.com campaign, a project of Big Brother Church Watch, was in retaliation for a complaint filed by Americans United for Separation of Church and State against Jerry Falwell for his endorsement of George Bush's election campaign on his ministry's website. The complaint seeks the revocation of tax-exempt status for Falwell's ministries because of the alleged violation of IRS laws.

The MCC notice says that "known liberal churches" include its own gay-friendly congregations, along with Unitarian Universalist, and predominantly African-American AME congregations.

So, did Murray’s organization target this black church in Tampa? Maybe, but no one is talking yet. In the meantime, a few more black voters might just lose interest or decide that voting is just too much trouble. Another victory for Jeb!

The rest of the Saint Pete Times article is well worth reading, but this part stands out:

Political activists who attended the forum wondered why the IRS had questioned the College Hill church, but not Christian evangelical churches such as Idlewild Baptist Church in Tampa.

Idlewild holds political forums and prints a candidate fact sheet that only mentions candidates with evangelical credentials who belong to Idlewild. The fact sheet says it's not meant to be an endorsement.

"What happened at Idlewild was an abuse of the system and what happened at Abe Brown's church was the system abusing people who were trying to participate in it," said Adam Elend, a political activist who attended a recent forum at Idlewild.

Pastor Reno Zunz of Idlewild could not be reached for comment.

Here’s an enlightening bit of info about one of Idlewild’s congregants:

Barbara Wilcox works hard for George Bush, Bill McCollum and God.

And if Wilcox has her way, Christian conservatives like her, voting in the largest numbers since 1994, will elect all three.

"We need to elect someone who will keep God in front of the people," said Wilcox, a retired real estate broker who is as active in politics as she in Tampa's 8,000-plus member Idlewild Baptist Church.

Gay marriage, abortion, stem cell research, banning of prayer in schools and the belief that righteous judges are being kept off the courts have enraged many conservative Protestants and Catholics who see the 2004 election as their best chance for political redemption.

Wilcox, who as a member of the Hillsborough County judicial nominating committee helps pick that county's circuit judges, is worried that nation could lose touch with God if church-going people don't make their voices heard this year.

Uh, the author of that last report seems to have left out many qualifiers in his paraphrasing of Barb’s views. Words like white and conservative and fundamentalist and Christian placed right before “church-going people” would have been more than appropriate.