As I suspected, there was a little more to the story about the liberal Pasadena church under IRS scrutiny for a nonprofit violation. An All Headline News report says
Regis says he only said that Jesus would have told President Bush that his preemptive war strategy in Iraq "has led to disaster."
All Saints first came into IRS scrutiny after Regas delivered a sermon that depicted Jesus in a mock debate with then presidential candidates George W. Bush and John Kerry. Regas said the sermon did not endorse either candidate.
I still think Rev. Regas should have been able to do even what he did without any nonprofit repercussions. I think it's safe to say I would completely disagree with him theologically, but he should have the right to be wrong without jeopardizing the church's nonprofit status.
Nevertheless, what Regas did sounds a lot like what Alliance Defense Fund lawyer Gary McCaleb said a couple of months ago that churches should not do unless they want to get in hot water with the IRS. From the All Headline News report, Regas still didn't plainly endorse or denounce a candidate, but McCaleb described similar activities as flirting with a violation in the eyes of the IRS.
Perhaps there's a chance that since a liberal church is now in the IRS crosshairs, we might get a little more movement out of Congress on legislation to get rid of the church harassment brought on by LBJ's 1954 law.
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