The Liberal Patriot

Accidental Speech

J.G Schwam - June 6, 2004

Rep. Walter B. Jones R-NC wants you know he thinks that if you only break the law two or three times year it is ok because it is an accident. Jones wants preachers to be able to tell their congregants that God wants them to vote for George W. Bush. Currently church pastors that call on their congregants to vote for or endorse a political candidate or promote partisan political action from the pulpit can lose their tax exempt status. This rule has been part of the US tax code for so long it is difficult to determine exactly when it became law. It is a basic tenet of the separation of church and state in the US tax code.

In a nation where the constitution mandates a separation between church and state, churches don’t endorse politicians and politicians don’t endorse churches.

Jones is the author of section 689 called “safe harbor for churches” which inserted into another massive GOP pile of corporate pork for Bush’s Pioneers, Rangers and the Fortune 500 called the “American Jobs Creation Act of 2004” know as HR4520 the section in the bill exonerates churches from tax penalties who’s pastors “accidentally” break this law.

Section 689 changes the code to allow up to three violations of the prohibition per year for pastors “acting as private citizens”, even from the pulpit before the fines and revocation of tax status can occur.

Pity the GOP. So desperate are they that their morality has shrank to the point they need to pass laws that so clearly undermine the intent of the first amendment to hold onto their narrow loyalist base, fundamentalists that would blindly believe that God indeed wants George W. Bush to be president, if their pastor told them so.

Perhaps Rep. Jones would like to re-write the manslaughter laws so that if you run over someone with your car less than four times a year you should be exempt from the statute entirely because it was an accident.

Section 689 allows such accidental speech to occur from the pulpit. A caller to Air America’s Randi Rhodes Show asked the host what she should say to a relative who’s clergyman told him that they, or America would go hell if they didn’t vote for Bush.

Jones and the GOP certainly know under the current tax code and the intertwining of political endorsements from the pulpit would cost such a church it tax exempt status. They propose this bill section as law while the Bush administration dumps millions from the White House’s discretionary budget, against the prior refusal of congress into faith based organizations. The FBO’s the White House has funded are all heretofore Christian, many closely associated with churches. This clearly politically motivated effort is an example of another politically motivated attempt to end run the intent and wisdom of the constitution, purely to consolidate political power and influence.

Pure pork sections in congressional appropriations are cultural in our political system. Sections like these are not simply pork, they constitutional affronts. These tactics and their practice are morally deplorable. The Democrats strongly must repudiate this practice. HR4520 has currently been sent into committee for markup. Contact your Representative and tell them to demand the removal of section 689 from HR4520.

Back to Liberal Patriot Main Page