THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, March 21, 1996 TAG: 9603210376
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ESTHER DISKIN, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Long : 108 lines
As the pace picks up for the November election, Pat Robertson's legal action group is girding for battle with a liberal watchdog group over the involvement of churches and religious leaders in political campaigns.
Lawyers at the American Center for Law and Justice, based in Virginia Beach, are taking up the defense of a Houston mega-church over a complaint that the church should lose its tax exemption for engaging in partisan politics during the Texas primaries in March.
Americans United for Separation of Church and State on Tuesday filed a complaint with the Internal Revenue Service over leaflets found at the 22,000-member Second Baptist Church. One of the leaflets recommended that church members support a specific slate of candidates at a Republican precinct convention.
The Houston complaint is likely Round One in an escalating, election-year debate over the limits of churches' political action. Americans United is kicking off a national campaign to monitor churches and religious groups that might improperly use their influence on behalf of candidates or political parties.
``We would like to make it clear that people are watching, that you can't do this stuff with a cloak of invisibility,'' said Barry Lynn, the group's executive director. ``Pastors and others who see that there is a risk in going over the line will be more practical and careful.''
Jay Sekulow, chief counsel for Robertson's group, said that national campaign is an attempt to bully conservative churches and groups, because their political agendas conflict with the goals of Americans United.
Sekulow said his Washington office is mobilizing its affiliated lawyers around the country to fight back. ``We are not going to let this church or any other church be intimidated,'' he said. ``Barry Lynn is not the grand police or a special agent of the IRS.''
The two groups went toe-to-toe last April in a church case over similar legal principles.
In that instance, Americans United filed an IRS complaint about a 200-member church in New York state that raised $44,500 in tax-exempt donations to buy advertisements opposing Bill Clinton in the 1992 presidential campaign. When the IRS revoked the church's tax exemption, the ACLJ sued.
Currently, the IRS gives religious organizations wide latitude in speech about social and moral issues. For example, it allows them to host candidates for a forum. But the IRS draws the line when a church endorses or opposes a specific candidate or political party, either through statements or financial contributions.
The ACLJ's position is that under the First Amendment, the government and its agencies have no right to tax a church or restrict its speech. Sekulow said the New York church case is scheduled for court arguments in November.
The Houston complaint is likely to generate far more publicity than the earlier case, due to its huge size and prominent leadership.
Second Baptist Church - which calls itself ``Exciting Second'' - stretches nearly an entire city block in Houston, and includes a bowling alley and bookstore. It has grown to 22,000 under the leadership of H. Edwin ``Ed'' Young, former president of the Southern Baptist Convention, the nation's largest Protestant denomination.
It has a large visitor center, which is where a local member of Americans United found the leaflets that the group claims show that the church is engaging in partisan politics.
One brochure, for a church-based political ministry called the Nehemiah Project, tells people to register to vote and asks members to fill out a form with names, addresses, party preferences and voting precincts for themselves and three friends.
A separate handout, which makes reference to the Nehemiah Project, recommends specific delegate slates and candidates for precinct chairmen, saying that church members should support them at a Republican precinct convention.
``Listen carefully to make sure you are voting for the right slate!'' the handout advises. ``If a vote is being taken on Doug Elliot's or Tim McKay's slate, VOTE FOR the slate.''
Lynn said the handout promoting specific candidates for public office is a flagrant violation of the IRS code. ``They are not supposed to tell you what candidates to support,'' he said. ``If that's not direct participation in a campaign, I don't know what is.''
Church officials could not be reached Wednesday. In a report published in Wednesday's Houston Chronicle, Judy Craig, director of ministry networks for Second Baptist, said she had never seen or authorized the handout that promotes specific candidates.
She said the Nehemiah Project is a ministry that promotes voting and citizenship on a bipartisan basis, but does not tell people whom to support in an election.
The ACLJ's Sekulow, who is flying to Houston today to consult with church officials and hold a press conference, said the leaflet endorsing specific candidates was likely dropped off in the visitor center by one of the 22,000 church members.
``The church isn't responsible for the kind of literature that is in their lobby,'' he said. IRS officials have not yet contacted church officials, he said.
Sekulow said that while he would argue that the churches should have the right to state their views on specific candidates - even thought the IRS code now forbids it - that isn't an issue for the Houston church.
``The church didn't endorse a candidate and the pastor hasn't either,'' he said. ``This church is in complete compliance with the IRS code. This isn't a test case. This is a church that is being bullied.'' ILLUSTRATION: At issue:
A liberal watchdog group says it found a leaflet in the visitor
center of a Houston church that recommended members support a
specific slate of candidates at a Republican precinct convention.
KEYWORDS: AMERICAN CENTER FOR LAW AND JUSTICE PAT ROBERTSON POLITICS
IRS by CNB