The IRS is Watching!

Last month this space saw a reprint of a column I wrote as Vice President of the Board of Trustees in 2004. It attempted to explain the IRS rules governing political activity. I wrote on the topic, not to show all the restrictions imposed by the tax laws, but to show that there is much more we can do to advocate politically than we are now doing.

An IRS investigation of All Saints Episcopal Church in Pasadena , California now brings into doubt one of the core premises of the article, that we can advocate without limit on moral issues. As an agnostic and for many years not a church attendee, I’ve never had much sympathy for the premise that churches should be exempt from all taxes. Think of the lost tax revenue to governmental services including child welfare, public healthcare and many worthy causes. The tax burden on individual taxpayers could also be lessened if churches and central religious bodies were required to pay taxes.

But my dream of all churches paying taxes toward the public good, including those denominations with vast real estate holdings, did not envision only those churches that agreed with the government being exempt from taxation. On October 31, 2004 , just before the last Presidential election, the Rector Emeritus of All Saints Church, Dr. George Regas, gave a guest sermon titled If Jesus Debated Senator Kerry and President Bush. Dr. Regas began his sermon clearly stating that he was not going to tell anyone how to vote. He also assured his audience that Jesus Christ wins the debate, not Kerry or Bush.

Dr. Regas allows, “Good people of profound faith will be for either George Bush or John Kerry for reasons deeply rooted in their faith.” He also points out that both Bush and Kerry are devout Christians. What then was the problem? I suspect it was the way his sermon framed the debate on moral grounds. He covered two main topics of our day, the quest for peace and the elimination of poverty. Jesus attacks both Bush and Kerry over the war. (Of course as Bush kept pointing out during the election, Kerry voted for the war and still supported it.) In his imagined debate, Jesus accuses Bush and Kerry of placing more value on American than Iraqi lives.

“Your fundamental premise for the massive violence of this war is that it is the proper response to the terrorist attack that took place September 11, 2001 . But remember, the killing of innocent people to achieve some desired goal is morally repudiated by anyone claiming to follow me as their savior and guide.”

Jesus accosts them both, “I will tell you what I think of your war. The sin at the heart of this war against Iraq is your belief that an American life is of more value than an Iraqi life. That an American child is more precious than an Iraqi baby.”

I think that the IRS did not see the evenhandedness in Jesus’ attack on both candidates. Perhaps they thought that as Commander- in-Chief, Bush bore more of the moral responsibility for the war even though Kerry professed his support. Nonetheless, All Saints church is now in a battle to retain the right to advocate on moral grounds and retain their tax exemption. On September 15, All Saints Episcopal Church received a summons from the IRS demanding that the church turn over internal documents related to a sermon delivered by their Emeritus minister, Dr. George Regas. It wasn’t the text of the actual sermon they were seeking. They already had that. They want much more. The subpoena includes:

• All organizing documents of all Saints Church, including but not limited to Articles of Incorporation, Constitution or other organizing document in effect during 2004.

• All vestry meeting minutes of All Saints Church for 2004.

• All letters, correspondence, emails or other written communications sent by employees or agents of All Saints Church to Dr. George Regas regarding Dr. Regas’s role as a guest preacher at the October 31, 2004 services.

The list goes on and on. The congregation at All Saints Church has voted unanimously not to comply with the summons and to challenge it in court. This will be a case that may directly affect Starr King Church and our social justice activism.

Though I am not a Christian, I believe, as I am sure many Starr King members do, that the real teachings of Jesus are decent moral guidelines for our world. Will churches now be forbidden from raising his moral teachings in the context of the actions of our national leaders? ~Bob

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