WASHINGTON - September 24 - The Christian Coalition has a partisan political agenda and churches should refuse to distribute its biased "voter guides," according to Americans United for Separation of Church and State.

The Coalition is holding its "Road to Victory" Conference in Washington, D.C. Sept. 24-25, with sessions in the Dirksen Senate Office Building and a local hotel. The group, founded by TV preacher Pat Robertson, seeks to forge evangelical churches into a political machine to support favored candidates.

Said the Rev. Barry W. Lynn, Americans United executive director, "The Coalition calls itself Christian, but its real mission is political. This group's voter guides are intended to elect Republican candidates who are sympathetic to its agenda.

"Churches are tax-exempt organizations, and they may not distribute partisan literature," Lynn said. "Coalition voter guides are Republican campaign literature masquerading as objective election information. I urge pastors not to participate in this underhanded scheme."

Americans United has opposed the Coalition since the group was founded in 1989. Due to Americans United's educational work, most churches have declined to distribute the Coalition's biased campaign literature.

This year Americans United has distributed over 80,000 informational letters to educate religious leaders about the requirements of federal tax law.

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