About time this particular battle is joined in earnest:
The apologetics organization Catholic Answers has filed suit against the Internal Revenue Service claiming the federal tax collection agency has “intimidated” churches and non-profit groups into silence on politically controversial moral issues.
In an announcement posted at the organization’s web site, Catholic Answers president Karl Keating explained that the IRS fined the group for a 2004 e-letter it wrote saying that Democratic presidential candidate Sen. John Kerry should not be allowed to receive Holy Communion.
Keating charged that Francis Kissling, then-leader of the pro-abortion front group “Catholics for a Free Choice,” had instigated the IRS action with a complaint.
He said Kissling “hated” Catholic Answers’ “Voter’s Guide for Serious Catholics,” which aimed to educate Catholics on issues such as abortion. However, the guide did not mention any candidates or political parties and was cleared of any violations by the IRS.
According to Keating, the IRS did rule that the e-letter’s remark about Sen. Kerry was “intervening” in the election, a charge Keating called “preposterous.”
He said the IRS has been using “very vague criteria” to “intimidate” churches, non-profits and ministries into “silence” on controversial moral issues.
“The intimidation has become so bad that nowadays, most churches and non-profits in America are scared to death even to talk about moral issues that are deemed ‘political’ (such as abortion).”
Especially now that we have a Democrat in the White House – and a long and troubling history of Democrat Presidents using the IRS to attack opponents – we must ensure that religious groups, as religious groups, are able to speak out on issues of the day. Religious groups must have full freedom of speech – able to speak out about candidates, parties and issues without let or hindrance from any government entity. We’ve gone far enough in forcing religion out of the public square and it is time we allowed it back in – part of our problem in 2009 is that our religious groups have to be extra careful in how they preach in public, lest they run afoul of anti-religious bureaucrats and politicians.
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