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WASHINGTON
- February 14 - The Internal Revenue Service should
investigate a New York City church for violating federal tax law by
endorsing Democratic candidate Al Gore for president, says Americans
United for Separation of Church and State.
In
a formal complaint filed with the IRS today, Americans
United Executive Director Barry W. Lynn charged that the Rev. Floyd
Flake knowingly violated the Internal Revenue Code by inviting Gore to
address his congregation on Feb. 13 and then endorsing the candidate
during Sunday morning worship services at Allen African Methodist
Episcopal Church in New York City.
According to numerous press
accounts, Flake, referring to Gore, told his congregation, "I
don't do endorsements from across the pulpit because I never know
who's out there watching the types of laws that govern separation of
church and state. But I will say to you this morning and you read it
well: This should be the next president of the United States."
Wrote Lynn in his letter to the IRS,
"This statement indicates that Flake is aware of the provisions
in the Internal Revenue Code that bar houses of worship from endorsing
or opposing candidates for public office but chose to ignore them.
Such a flagrant violation of the law cannot be ignored."
Under IRS rules, houses of worship
and other non-profit organizations are barred from endorsing or
opposing candidates for public office. The provision, found in section
501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, is designed in part to prevent
tax-exempt churches from being used for partisan political purposes.
"Rev. Flake seemed fully aware
that his actions were wrong," said Lynn. "In fact, he seemed
to revel in flouting federal tax law. This type of brazen challenge to
our nation's laws cannot and should not be ignored."
Americans United runs a special
election-year effort called "Project Fair Play." Under the
project, Americans United seeks to educate churches about the law
governing tax-exempt institutions and political activity. In cases of
serious abuses of the law, AU reports offenders to the IRS.
The IRS has signaled an increasing
willingness to enforce the law. In 1995, it revoked the tax exemption
of the Church at Pierce Creek, a Binghamton, N.Y.-area congregation
that paid for full-page newspaper ads in late October of 1992,
advising people that voting for Bill Clinton was a sin. Americans
United had filed a formal complaint with the IRS about the church's
partisan politicking.
The Church at Pierce Creek sued
unsuccessfully in federal court to win back its tax exemption. During
the legal proceedings, the IRS stated that it has launched
investigations of 31 houses of worship over allegations of partisan
politicking.
Americans United is a
non-partisan organization that works to protect religious freedom by
defending the separation of church and state. Founded in 1947, the
group has 60,000 members nationwide and his based in Washington, D.C.
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