Warroad Minnesota Pastor Squaring Off With The IRS Over Free Speech

• June 23, 2008

Pastor Gus Booth of the Warroad Community Church has been telling his congregation that they shouldn’t vote for Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama because they support abortion. That preaching has landed Booth in a showdown with the IRS. On purpose, as it turns out, because Booth not only invited the media in to hear his tax-law-offending sermon he also sent a copy of it to the IRS itself.
You see, under the law churches don’t pay taxes, but in order to keep that tax-exempt status they can’t engage in political activities. That includes political speeches from the pulpit.
I’ve got two reactions to this. First, it’s curious that the IRS is taking Booth’s bait but hasn’t yet gone after Barack Obama’s church which seems to feature politically-charged sermons every Sunday.
Second, while I am a staunch supporter of political speech, I’m not entirely sure I’m in Booth’s corner on this one. Mostly because the big obstacle to Booth’s political sermons under the law is the fact that his church doesn’t pay any taxes. Presumably, if Booth and his church council would agree to it, the church could start paying taxes and Booth could say whatever he wants from the pulpit.
I have a rather hard time feeling sorry for someone’s inability to fully exercise their free speech when the only obstacle to that person’s free speech is their rather lucrative special status under the tax code.
Personally, I don’t really like that churches don’t pay taxes. I really don’t like seeing any exemptions in the tax code. I think America would be a much nicer place if our federal and state tax codes were simplified to just a few streams of revenue (consumption and use taxes being the preferred methods) with no exceptions made for anyone.
That would be fairness. That would be equality. But if we had that then the powers that be couldn’t use the tax code to manipulate our behavior (sin/excise taxes) and pander to special interest groups (deductions, tax exemptions, etc.).
Make no doubt about it: The tax code is one of the government’s biggest and baddest tools when it comes to controlling our lives.

Tags: Domestic Issues, Politics, Religion

http://proof-proofpositive.blogspot.com/ proof_positive

So, it’s okay to mock Hillary’s candidacy and cuss ala Father Flaky Pfleger, but if you morally object to abortion on religious grounds, you’d better not say so in church?
patriot

Yes, I’ve been wondering where the IRS is on looking at Trinity United and its clear “Vote Obama” preaching. Pfleger worries me less as his most fiery speeches seem to be at Trinity not at his own church.
docdave

Personally, I don’t really like that churches don’t pay taxes. I really don’t like seeing any exemptions in the tax code

The flaw in your reasoning is that most churches exist primarily on contributions which are already declared as deductible exemptions from the taxes of the contributors. Therefore the IRS church tax exemption is a phony contrivance use to supress the 1st amendment rights of the churchs and the churchs members since churchs exist at the pleasure of its members.
FlyOnTheWall

…but if you morally object to abortion on religious grounds…

Proof, this was different. He told people who to vote for, or not vote for rather. My pastor regularly rails against the evils of abortion and homosexuality but the pulpit has never given a list of names. I think booth in the wrong here.

I’ve also wondered about stripping the tax exempt status from churches, etc. It wouldn’t change my giving and a lot of the more nefarious ‘churches’ would dry up and blow away.
http://ndgoon.blogspot.com/ goon

If they don’t go after Trinity the IRS are bunch of hypocrites.
Bat One

The hypocrisy over this issue is really appalling. Democrat candidates from Barack Obama and John Kerry right on down the line regularly mount the pulpit to give political speeches, hand out partisan campaign trinkets and propaganda and the media is dead silent. Two years ago Congresswoman Stephanie Tubbs Jones held a number of campaign events at churches in her district. She is the chairman of the House Ethics Committee.

But let a conservative Baptist or Methodist minister preach against certain pet leftist issues, abortion and those who support it comes readily to mind, or encouraging support for the President and his Global War Against Islamist Terrorism, and liberals have all got their Hanes in a half-hitch over the so-called “separation of church and state.”

More power to Rev. Booth for challenging the IRS and the political hypocrites.
FlyOnTheWall

…but if you morally object to abortion on religious grounds…

Proof, this was different. He told people who to vote for, or not vote for rather. My pastor regularly rails against the evils of abortion and homosexuality but the pulpit has never given a list of names. I think booth in the wrong here.

I’ve wondered about stripping the tax exempt status from churches, etc. It wouldn’t change my giving and a lot of the more nefarious ‘churches’ would dry up and blow away.
FlyOnTheWall

I think booth in the wrong here.

I think Booth is in the wrong here.

Krog make sleep by fire, later plot mammoth kill.
Neiman

In my opinion Rob’s objections to Churches having a tax free status is mostly because of his atheism, therefore his motives are not, IMO, at all pure; that is, completely absent anti-Christian and/or anti-religious bias.

I am not attacking Rob or accusing him of anything negative, I am only stating my personal opinion about his motivations for advocating a no tax exempt status.

Our Founding Father’s did not object to financial support of Christian denominations and ministries by the government. It was quite common for nearly 100 years after we were founded as a nation. However, that does not mean I support it now, because when government money is involved in our modern, increasingly agnostic and atheist society, there are always strings attached and those strings are always anti-Christian in nature.

I would prefer that Christian churches, denominations and ministries, even charitable ones did not receive any special tax exemptions of any kind. These things represent an entanglement of the Christian Church with the world system (government), which only and always pollutes the Gospel to varying degrees. On the other hand, I have no objections at all to Islam, Trinity Church or any non-Christian religion having such exemptions and being able to engage in partisan politics from the pulpit, it is a matter of complete indifference to me.

I do not believe ministers of the Christian Gospel have any business getting involved in partisan politics. Abortion is a moral-spiritual issue not a political one, note I did not say it was in any manner a purely humanistic moral issue; and there are many such issues that need to be passionately condemned from the pulpit, but it should always be based on Scripture and void of any partisan political bias or any attempt to influence government, except by influencing the hearts and spirits of Christians under their ministry.

In short, Rob and I agree about no tax exempt status or any financial assistance from government for the Christian Church of any kind, nor do we disagree about Christian ministers not being involved in partisan politics from the pulpit, only our basic reasons for this differ.
http://www.bikebubba.blogspot.com/ Bike Bubba

I don’t like too much politics from the pulpit for a simple reason; it tends to obscure the Gospel, which is what we all need the most. Even to call for votes against certain candidates will tend to do this.

Preach the Biblical position on issues, sure. Preach against candidates, no.

Keep in mind that there is a reason that churches are not subject to property taxes (they are to income and sales taxes in general, though); to allow property taxes of churches would allow an assessor of one religion (or non-religion) to work to tax rival churches out of existence.

My preferred solution would be to reduce/end the use of property taxes for most things. Sales taxes are less intrusive and more easily administered.
http://ndgoon.blogspot.com/ goon

Trinity is nothing but a mouth piece for the Obama campaign. They are just as wrong as the guy in Warroad.

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Warroad Minnesota Pastor Squaring Off With The IRS Over Free Speech

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