[wordup] Churches to become clearing houses for political contributions?

[Adam Shand]

I'm hardly the expert but Personal Telco just submitted the paperwork
today for our 501(c)(3) status and I can vouch for the fact that it says
all over the paperwork that you are not allowed to do any form of
political campaigning or lobbying.

My understand is that it hasn't been strictly enforced for a long time,
but I agree that the below is probably a bad thing.

Adam.

From: Simondo <simondo at paradise.net.nz>

Hi Adam,

I got this in the latest Council for Secular Humanism e-newsletter and 
thought it might be of interest.  I'm not pushing the separation of 
church and state angle (for once!), but I thought the last sentence was a 
little chilling.  Would churches have to declare contributions to 
candidates, and would this allow other organisations (such as 
entertainment industry groups) to make large contributions via this 
backdoor without the existing limitations/disclosure requirements 
(whatever they are)?

Interesting.
simondo

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Stop Legislation Allowing Churches to Campaign

The Houses of Worship Political Speech Protection Act, H.R. 2357, is
expected to come up for a vote in the U.S. House of Representatives
sometime in early September. This bill would allow Churches to 
effectively campaign for or against candidates for political office. 
 
We must act now to stop this bill which would remove yet another brick 
in the already crumbling wall of separation between church and state in 
this country. Please call, e-mail or fax your U.S. Representative today
and urge a vote against this bill. 
 
As opponents of this measure have pointed out, all non-profit
organizations which come under the 501 (c) (3) section of the IRS code 
are entitled to tax exemption but on condition that they not engage in
partisan political campaigning for candidates for elective office. HR 
2357 would carve out an exception for religious non-profit organizations
ONLY.

This could mean that churches and other houses of worship, which already
have only limited financial scrutiny, may become clearing houses for
unlimited fund raising.