If it's wrong? Then it's wrong for both sides...

(This article is written for the Carnival of Ohio Politics, brought to you courtesy of Paul Miller of Northwest Ohio Net, be sure to stop by his site tomorrow morning for the 6th edition of what some of Ohio's best bloggers have to share)

There's been some discussion at several Ohio blogs concerning the story of 30 Ohio ministers who have requested the IRS investigate the tax-exempt status of two "mega-churches"; World Harvest Church of Columbus and Fairfield Christian Church of Lancaster. This has been reported in the Columbus Dispatch and the New York Times. It's felt thru the Reformation Ohio and the Center for Moral Clarity as well as thru Pastor Rod Parsley's Breakthru Net that lines are being crossed in support of Ken Blackwell.

Reformation Ohio lists as one of their goals:

Empowering Communities through Voter Registration – Through diverse means, Reformation Ohio will help to increase the state’s voter registration rolls by at least 400,000 persons..

The Center for Moral Clarity has several links to legislative information, as well as ironically containing this in their FAQS:

10. As a Pastor with a church that operates as a 501c3 not-for-profit organization, what are my boundaries as it relates to politics, elections and lobbying?

Click onto the following information which will detail the "dos and don’ts" for pastors and ministries.

Elections, churches, and ministers: playing by the rules

which if you follow that link lists this among the many requirements:

Candidate appearances and speeches. Appearances by individual candidates at churches—apart from a multi-candidate forum or debate—can pose thorny issues for the church. Again, the “neutrality” principle must be used to determine whether the activity is prohibited.

and this:

Candidate endorsements and denouncements. A church may not, as a matter of its official position, endorse or oppose a candidate for public office. Thus, a pastor speaking from the pulpit or otherwise in his capacity as the pastor, may not urge his audience to vote for or against a particular candidate. Likewise, a church may not publish an article in its newsletter, or place an advertisement exhorting readers to vote for or against a particular candidate.

Sounds pretty straighforward doesn't it? It also appears given the access these churches have given to Ken Blackwell that there could be a problem. However, where was this same outcry in the past? Or is it only an issue now?

This goes beyond our local issues of having several Pastors openly support Jack Ford when he was campaigning for election and re-election. While that was obvious even thru the use of one of his campaign ads where Rev. Mansour Bey, associate pastor of First Church of God, participated in a television commercial in support of Jack Ford's re-election, this is not the first or the only time Church Congregations in this area have behaved in a very similar manner to what is being discussed right now.

During the Presidential election, there was a GOP event, "Empowering People of Color" held here in Toledo. African-American clergy members from around the country flew into Toledo to listen to members of Bush-Cheney's national African-American Steering Committee talk about the President's policies to improve the lives of African-Americans and to denounce Sen. John Kerry, the Democratic presidential contender, for playing of what they called "the race card."

Several local ministers who were invited did not attend, instead, they joined Mayor Jack Ford and had their own press conference in support of Mr. Kerry.

The Revs. John Roberts, Gerald Fletcher, Benjamin Green, Cedric Brock, John Walthall, W.L. Perryman, and Lee Williams, all of Toledo, stood beside the mayor as he made his comments in the Stevenson Roberts Hall, adjacent to the Indiana Avenue Missionary Baptist Church.

"I want you all to know that we stand behind Senator Kerry," Mr. Brock said. "I'm sure there will be ups and downs on the journey, but I hope that he is the right choice." Cedric Brock is the minister of Mt. Nebo Missionary Baptist Church.

Granted, the ministers in attendence were quick to state:

The Toledo-area pastors all stressed that they keep their political opinions out of their sermons, and don't plan to endorse any candidates before their congregations.

"We keep it out, don't mix it in with what we preach. Our people are intelligent enough to make their own decisions," Mr. Green said. "One sermon isn't going to change their minds one way or another anyway."

But...."I want you all to know that we stand behind Senator Kerry," certainly sounds like an endorsement....

If the unspoken rule is going to be what Pastor Green stated that "Our people are intelligent enough to make their own decisions" then so be it. If it is going to be let's follow the law (which is the way I would suggest) then let's make sure that this is applied on both sides.

All of these ministers know the law, even Pastor Parsley states on his own website:

16. Does Pastor Parsley endorse candidates for public office?

No, because that would be illegal. CMC is an outreach of World Harvest Church, and as such is bound by IRS regulations that prohibit him from endorsing political candidates. In fact, clergy of all faith expressions have been prohibited from endorsing candidates for the past 50 years.

So to paraphrase from the Bible...Let he who is without the first implied endorsement throw the first stone....

:-)