Wednesday, February 27, 2008

Of church and state

This is interesting:
The IRS is investigating the United Church of Christ over a speech Barack Obama gave to its national meeting last year after he became a candidate for president.
Even more interesting in light of the Obama-Russert dustup in the debates regarding Barack's failure to denounce his church's support for Louis Farrakhan after denouncing Farrakhan's endorsement. But as Debbie says, this stuff has been going on a long time. To wit, from 2004 at a Kerry church appearance:

It's a strong part of the fabric of Mid-South politics, by the way. But it's not just on the left or in the black churches. The pastor of a California church is being investigated by the IRS for personally endorsing Mike Huckabee. Hey, maybe that's why Huck is in favor to the Fair Tax!

I have no problem with bringing candidates into a church to speak as long as there's some balance. However, it's frankly downright insulting for a pastor to make a choice for the congregation and expect his entire flock to march in lockstep, even if done in a surreptitious manner. For a church to remain neutral there's only one endorsement that can be made--and it doesn't include any mortals.

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