Obama??s Church in Trouble
It seems that Barack Obama??s Church, Chicago??s Trinity United Church of Christ, could very well be acting in breach with IRS rules. The Church??s pastor, Rev. Jeremiah Wright Jr., seems to have turned Obama into the second coming of Christ and doesn??t forget to mention him and his candidacy during the Sunday sermon.
About the second coming of Christ, one may think that I??m exaggerating it a bit. Trust me, I??m not:
On Christmas morning, Rev. Jeremiah Wright Jr. compared presidential candidate Barack Obama??s impoverished childhood to Jesus Christ??s. ??Barack knows what it means to be a black man living in a country and a culture that is controlled by rich white people,? he then trumpeted. ??Hillary [Clinton] can never know that.?
Here??s the problem:
Under the law that governs tax-exempt organizations, churches are allowed to support causes or ballot initiatives such as laws to ban same-sex marriage. They also can hold a candidates?? night for all office-seekers in a race. But according to guidance provided on the IRS??s Web site, churches are ??absolutely prohibited from directly or indirectly participating in, or intervening in, any political campaign on behalf of (or in opposition to) any candidate for elective public office.?
If they don??t play by the rules, churches can lose their tax-exempt status.
So how does the Rev. Wright behave?
With 6,000 members, Trinity is the largest United Church of Christ congregation. The church is centered in a poor Chicago neighborhood, near public housing and down the road from Cut Rate Food & Liquors, which posts a sign reading ??No drug dealing.? A review by The Wall Street Journal of 13 sermons at Trinity seen live or through church-recorded DVDs since late December found nine instances of ministers at Trinity appearing to promote Sen. Obama??s candidacy.
Some of the sermons mentioned Sen. Clinton or her husband in unflattering ways. During that Christmas morning sermon, Mr. Wright declared that Hillary Clinton ??ain??t had to work twice as hard just to get accepted by the rich white folk who run everything or to get a passing grade when you know you are smarter than that ??C?? student sitting in the White House.? On Jan. 13, Mr. Wright told the Trinity congregation that some people say, ????Hillary is married to Bill and Bill [has] been good to us.??? Mr. Wright continued, ??No, he ain??t!?
In some instances, the church??s ministers alluded to Sen. Obama without naming him. During a Trinity sermon observed by a Journal reporter on March 2, the Rev. Otis Moss III, the pastor, preached, ??There was a non-Babylonian, a young man who heard the word of God and said, ??I have the audacity to hope!?? Now the whole nation says, ??Yes, we can! Yes, we can! Yes, we can!???
Note the somewhat racist remarks. Imagine what would happen if Clinton went to a Church in which the pastor talked like that about blacks.
According to experts cited by the Wall Street Journal, this is quite a simple case:
Ellen Aprill, an associate dean at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles and a former adviser to the Treasury Department on matters including nonprofit tax law, says she believes those sermons are ??clearly a violation. They??re naming names.?
Donald Tobin, an associate dean at Ohio State University law school, who formerly worked for the Justice Department on nonprofit tax matters, adds that nonprofits cannot make endorsements or engage in a ??pattern and practice that is designed to support one candidate over another.? After being read sections of the Trinity sermons by the Journal, he said, ??There does seem to be a pattern of attempting to tip the scales in a way for Barack Obama. And churches shouldn??t be doing that.?
PoliGazette » Obama’s Church in Trouble
Poor ol' Barrack...just doesn't know how to pick his friends I guess.;)
Have a good one!:s4:
Obama??s Church in Trouble
While I understand where this coming from, I have two points.
1. Why in the hell does it matter if they give support to someone in church, and not outside it? Plenty of religious figures publicly back candidates outside of the church.
2. Secondly, psycho4bud, you really need to stop sounding so smarmy and elite. It angers me beyond belief.
Obama??s Church in Trouble
Quote:
Originally Posted by DaBudhaStank
While I understand where this coming from, I have two points.
1. Why in the hell does it matter if they give support to someone in church, and not outside it? Plenty of religious figures publicly back candidates outside of the church.
Under the law that governs tax-exempt organizations, churches are allowed to support causes or ballot initiatives such as laws to ban same-sex marriage. They also can hold a candidates?? night for all office-seekers in a race. But according to guidance provided on the IRS??s Web site, churches are ??absolutely prohibited from directly or indirectly participating in, or intervening in, any political campaign on behalf of (or in opposition to) any candidate for elective public office.?
Quote:
Originally Posted by DaBudhaStank
2. Secondly, psycho4bud, you really need to stop sounding so smarmy and elite. It angers me beyond belief.
LOL...I've been watching the GOP bash-a-thon for over 3 years in here....kind of ironic that you posted something on this order. As far as your anger is concerned.....don't know what to tell ya. We have peacefull debates in here with no personal attacks on members so I'd suggest you either not read my posts or hold your water when ya reply.:thumbsup:
Have a good one!:s4:
Obama??s Church in Trouble
No see, I wanted to know WHY they couldn't support them, not that they could not, in fact, support a candidate. I got that much from reading the article. And of COURSE we bash the GOP! But it's not the GOP that concerns me, I could give two shits about any politician, it's just your attitude in general, it's disgusting. I'm surprised their isn't more all around government bashing on this site, democrats included. It still boggles my mind why anyone would even wanna touch politics with a 200 foot poll. They don't care about you or me or what we think so why give any support to begin with? Hell, I don't even plan on voting in the election. This of course takes away any right I have to say "I told you so" or something lame like that when someone gets elected.
Obama??s Church in Trouble
Quote:
Originally Posted by DaBudhaStank
it's just your attitude in general, it's disgusting.
LMAO....my attitude? I haven't heard that sort of shit since I was a teenager living with my parents. Sorry though, I LOVE to see these phoney assclowns go down hard!:thumbsup:
Quote:
Originally Posted by DaBudhaStank
I'm surprised their isn't more all around government bashing on this site, democrats included.
99% of what any of them do deserves to be bashed. Where do ya want to start?
Quote:
Originally Posted by DaBudhaStank
Hell, I don't even plan on voting in the election. This of course takes away any right I have to say "I told you so" or something lame like that when someone gets elected.
Couldn't agree with ya more on this.
Have a good one!:s4:
Obama??s Church in Trouble
Quote:
Originally Posted by DaBudhaStank
2. Secondly, psycho4bud, you really need to stop sounding so smarmy and elite. It angers me beyond belief.
Tee hee... that made me giggle... Somehow, 'Biker' and 'Elite' together just make me think of some trust-fund kid blasting around town on an Aprilia Mille... But I fear our dear, tattooed, swingin' Psycho has neither a trust fund nor a stable full of Italian steel (no, specialty body piercings DON'T count, stop it)...
Obama??s Church in Trouble
Quote:
Originally Posted by stinkyattic
Tee hee... that made me giggle... Somehow, 'Biker' and 'Elite' together just make me think of some trust-fund kid blasting around town on an Aprilia Mille... But I fear our dear, tattooed, swingin' Psycho has neither a trust fund nor a stable full of Italian steel (no, specialty body piercings DON'T count, stop it)...
That's what makes me an elite biker, got my tongue pierced.:D
As for my trust fund....it's all in mason jars at the time.:thumbsup:
Have a good one!:s4:
Obama??s Church in Trouble
Quote:
Originally Posted by Psycho4Bud
If they don??t play by the rules, churches can lose their tax-exempt status.
well i hope he carries on his Obama preaching because they don't deserve tax exemption
