IRS investigates the UCC

In a move reminiscent of the IRS's move against All Saints Episcopal in Pasadena, CA, the IRS is now going to investigate an entire denomination, the United Church of Christ (UCC).  With over a million members, the UCC is one of the larger protestant denominations in the United States. 

The issue, supposedly, is a speech given by Sen. Barack Obama at the church's national convention in 2007.  In a statement, the UCC said:

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.

(UCC President John) Thomas said the IRS's investigation implies that Obama, a UCC member, is not free to speak openly to fellow UCC members about his faith.

Let's get this straight:  The IRS does not investigate Jerry Falwell, who accused the President of the United States of murder.  The IRS does not investigate the blatantly political Pat Robertson, or D. James Kennedy, or James Dobson.  The IRS does not investigate the outfit from Colorado Springs that sent me a CD, two days before the 2004 election, promoting George Bush.  The IRS does not investigate the myriad of conservative religious organizations openly participating in various elections.  (May I add, I don't think they should either.)

But the IRS does investigate the progressive All Saints Episcopal Church because, before the 2004 election, the Rector gave a speech denouncing the Iraq War.  Imagine the temerity!  A Christian pastor raises questions about a war. 

Then, the IRS investigates an entire (liberal) denomination because one of its own members spoke to his fellow Christians about "his personal faith journey" and about how religion had been used to divide the country. 

Moreover, the UCC appears to have bent over backwards to make certain that the speech could not be construed as a political campaign speech.  No campaigning of any kind was allowed inside the convention center.

In any case, so what if it was?  Political leaders--especially when campaigning--routinely speak at national church conventions.  Usually, these speeches are given to religious organizations of which they are not members themselves.  Ronald Reagan regularly spoke to the National Association of Evangelicals.  John F. Kennedy gave his famous speech on church-state relations to the Houston Ministerial Association.  Vice President Hubert Humphrey spoke at the Lutheran Youth Conference I attended in 1965! 

That doesn't even count the great number of politicians who speak in individual churches all the time, sometimes even preaching the sermon.  Jesse Jackson preached at my seminary during the Iowa caucuses in 1988. It is beyond ludicrous that a prominent politician can't speak to members of his own denomination about faith, or politics, or whatever he feels like talking about. 

Comments

[Dan Hays]

Good post, John. It seems the old Nixon hands employed in the Bush administration have taken that "enemies list" chapter from the old playbook and have run farther with it than Nixon did.
Siccing the IRS on supposed enemies, using the FBI and CIA to spy on them--hey, now we have more telecoms to work with--these are the old, creepy standards taken to new, creepier levels. And this time there is no Fourth Estate to hold them accountable.

[John Petty]

I posted the transcript of the speech. It's pretty tame. There are a couple of references to things he'd do as president, but nothing overt.

[susan russell]

Thanks for this ... as a member of the staff at All Saints, Pasadena I have to say I'm horrified that the battle we've fought continues to rage!

[John Petty]

Hi Susan,

Thanks for the drop-by. We promoted All Saints here also. In fact, if I remember correctly, I made a donation to your defense fund.

Incidentally, the name of my church is All Saints too--Lutheran though.

Stop by again.

pax, jp

[CB]

Who says the IRS has NOT investigated Dobson, Kennedy, Falwell, or other conservatives?

IRS investigations were done, especially during the Clinton years.

It's about time that liberal churches received 'equal time' in this regard.

[John Petty]

Some may have gotten investigated for blatantly campaigning, but not for sermons.