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ELECTIONS 2006
A reporter's guide to voter guides
Election Day is
near, and religious organizations are busy distributing voter guides to inform
the faithful about issues and candidates. They appear at a time when the IRS
is closely monitoring politicking by churches and when high-profile public policy
issues are entwined with religious values. This year, religious groups with
more liberal political orientations are producing guides, which have long been
used by conservative Christians. And all groups are benefiting from the Internet,
where guides are posted for downloading by groups and individuals in anticipation
of Nov. 7 elections.
Voter guides have
generated frequent controversies over allegations that they come too close to
politicking on behalf of a particular candidate or party, in violation of IRS
rules. When proved, such politicking endangers a religious organization’s tax-exempt
status. Experts say most groups seem to have learned from past mistakes, however,
and now produce carefully crafted guides that communicate their message without
crossing legal boundaries.
Jump to:
Background
Voter guides, initiatives and political statements
Resources
Articles
Background
For decades many
secular groups, often on the liberal side of the spectrum, used voter guides
to influence Americans on issues ranging from the environment to civil rights,
and many continue to do so. In 1992 the Christian Coalition, long a mainstay
of the so-called “Religious Right,” became the first religious group to issue
its own guide to candidates and issues.
While the Christian
Coalition and similar conservative religious groups have been investigated and
penalized by the IRS, some liberal religious organizations are also coming under
scrutiny as the nation’s political temperature has risen in recent years over
hot-button issues such as Iraq and terror policies.
In September 2006,
for example, All Saints
Episcopal Church in Pasadena, Calif., refused to comply with IRS demands
that it turn over materials related to an investigation of the church for allowing
a guest speaker who strongly criticized President Bush. The case has been a
lightning rod for protests against the IRS by church groups across the political
spectrum, as a Sept.
22, 2006, Los Angeles Times story shows.
IRS guidelines
allow churches to publish voter guides, but they are not allowed to endorse
a particular person or party. What constitutes an improper endorsement is a
judgment call. But through the years, several groups — such as the Christian
Coalition in 1999 — have had their tax-exempt status revoked for a period of
time. Read the 2006 IRS article “Charities,
Churches and Politics,” which includes history, facts and links to reports
and rules on the IRS ban on political activity by churches and charities. The
IRS routinely issues reminders about its rules in election years. This year’s
reminder
was issued in June.
According to a
Sept. 18, 2006, story in The New York Times, the IRS reported in February
that nearly half of the 110 tax-exempt organizations it investigated after the
2004 elections were churches. The IRS said 37 of 40 cases it completed against
the churches showed violations of the law, but the churches were issued warnings
or hit with an excise tax, and none lost their tax-exempt status.
The impetus for
the ban on church politicking was, of all things, Texas politics. The IRS ban
dates from a 1954 law that was passed at the behest of then-Sen. Lyndon B. Johnson,
who was angry at efforts by a Texas nonprofit group to defeat him. The law says
tax-exempt entities such as houses of worship and charities must refrain from
what the IRS defines as “any and all activities that favor or oppose one or
more candidate for public office.”
Voter
guides, initiatives and political statements
CONSERVATIVE
CHRISTIANS
• The iVoteValues.com
program is an initiative launched in 2004 by Richard Land of the Ethics
and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention. iVoteValues.com
aims to register conservative Christian voters (2 million by 2008, according
to Land) and offer voter guides and educational information to inform their
voting choices. The program says it provides “up-to-date information on every
political candidate seeking office on the state and national level in the U.S.”
and that it can provide resources to churches that are “well within” the Internal
Revenue Service guidelines for tax-exempt religious groups.
• The
Colorado-based organization Focus
on the Family, led by James Dobson, has a related program called iVoteValues.org.
Focus on the Family also produces brochures, church bulletin inserts, sermon
points and other aids to encourage “values voting.”
• The
Christian Coalition of America
is one of the original and most ambitious organizations to deploy voter guides.
The group has diminished in influence in recent years, but it still produces
the most complete set of voter guides by state for conservative Christians.
The guides are available on the
group’s Web site.
• Coral
Ridge Ministries is the Florida-based church and Christian media network
led by D. James Kennedy, a prominent conservative Christian activist. Coral
Ridge has a number of programs aimed at registering Christian voters and encouraging
them to vote for candidates who share their values. The ministry has a program
called ChristianVotes.com,
which offers detailed
voters guides for many state races and issues.
LIBERAL
CHRISTIANS
• Red
Letter Christians is a new organization of self-described “progressive Christian
leaders” that takes its name from the ink color used in some bibles to set off
the words of Jesus. The organization is the brainchild of Jim Wallis, a leading
liberal evangelical voice and founder of Call to Renewal and Sojourners
magazine. Red Letter Christians aims to set up offices in battleground states
and distribute voter guides and other information.
• The
Interfaith
Alliance announced on Sept. 21, 2006, that it would distribute 20,000 pamphlets
to churches, synagogues and mosques offering advice on how to comply with federal
law regarding houses of worship and politics. The Interfaith Alliance, which
counts 185,000 members nationwide, also offers a range
of resources on the campaign under the heading “One Nation, Many Faiths.”
• A
May 1, 2006, Religion Link edition, “The
Religious ‘Left’ Reasserts Itself,” provides further resources for exploring
the activities of liberal believers.
ROMAN
CATHOLICS
• Every
four years since 1976, the U.S. Catholic bishops have issued a statement on
the roles and responsibilities of Catholics in American public life. In 2003
the bishops approved a comprehensive statement, “Faithful
Citizenship: A Catholic Call to Political Responsibility.” Through its Web
site, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops also offers a host
of resources for parishes and individuals.
• During
the 2004 campaign, the National Conference of Catholic Bishops also issued a
statement titled “Catholics
in Political Life,” which sets out principles for Catholic candidates. On
March 10, 2006, the bishops followed that up with a “Statement
on Responsibilities of Catholics in Public Life.”
• A
July 17, 2006, ReligionLink edition, “Will
Catholics Swing Back to the Democrats?” explores these and related issues.
• Voter
guides from other Catholic groups include:
MAINLINE
PROTESTANTS
• Most
mainline denominations are not offering political guides or statements this
year.
• The
main denomination that is publishing such a guide is the Presbyterian Church
(USA). Its “Christian
& Citizen Election Year Resource” gives an overview of past PCUSA statements
on the political responsibilities of Presbyterians and provides resources on
specific issues and “do’s and don’ts” regarding political activity by congregations.
• The
National Council of Churches,
whose members include mainline Protestants as well as African-American, Orthodox
and Peace churches, published a document in 2004 titled “Christian
Principles in an Election Year,” which remains its general statement on
election campaigns. The document analyzes major topics in light of Christian
thinking and offers resources such as study guides.
OTHER
CHRISTIANS
• Ecumenical Ministries
of Oregon, an organization of 16 Christian denominations including Protestant,
Catholic and Orthodox, published a "Ballot Measure Guide" (linked
from its home page) for Oregon. Contact executive director David Leslie, 503-221-1054,
dleslie@emoregon.org.
OTHER
GROUPS
Other religious
groups have tended to avoid issuing voter information, for various reasons.
Some Jewish groups published voter literature in the 1990s in response to the
Christian Coalition efforts, but that has not continued in any broad effort.
Jewish leaders say that since the community generally opposes the involvement
of religion in politics, the tactic did not suit their goals. They and others
also noted the fear of running afoul of IRS rules.
Muslim groups also
have not produced much voter education literature, and Islamic groups say they
are more focused on voter registration drives. They have also tended to see
voter guides and the like as a tool of the Christian right and do not want to
be associated with such tactics.
Interestingly,
African-American churches are among the most closely watched groups for campaign
violations because churches, which are frequently the principal institution
in black communities, often invite candidates to speak from their pulpits. But
African-American churches are not known for producing extensive campaign-oriented
literature, experts say.
WATCHDOG
GROUPS
• An
online group called Rat
Out A Church, dedicated to “ending radical left-wing politics in the pulpit,”
is one of a number of groups that tries to point the IRS toward what it considers
violations of the tax law. The group operates under the auspices of the Religious
Freedom Coalition, which is headed by William Murray, son of the late founder
of American Atheists, Madalyn Murray O’Hair. William Murray became a conservative
Christian and was estranged from his mother.
• The
American Center for Law and Justice
offers a resource page on churches’ tax-exempt status (link from home page).
ACLJ has frequently argued in court for the right of churches to engage in politics.
• Americans
United for Separation of Church and State is one of the more established
groups that keeps tabs on whether churches or religious organizations step over
the line when it comes to campaigning. It posts an FAQ on electioneering by houses of worship.
Resources
Two ReligionLink
issues offer background and sources:
• The
push for more – or less – politicking from churches (Jan. 9, 2006)
• A
guide to church-state experts and organizations
• An
August
2006 Pew Center poll showed that about half of Americans (51 percent) say
churches and other houses of worship “should express their views on day-to-day
social and political questions” while 46 percent say they should not. That balance
was largely unchanged from the previous year.
• Read
“Politics and the Pulpit 2004: A Guide to the Internal Revenue
Restrictions on the Political Activity of Religious Organizations”
from the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life.
• Read
the First Amendment Center’s backgrounder on tax exemptions for religious groups, including
FAQ and relevant court cases. The center also offers a Q&A
on religion and politics from The Associated Press.
Articles
• Read
a Sept. 29, 2006, Washington Post story, "Religious-Right
Voter Guides Facing Challenge From Left."
• See
a Sept. 29, 2006, Catholic News Service story, "What's
a voter to do? Election guides offer different answers." The CNS story
focuses on Catholic groups but provides an overview of the issue.
• Read
a Nov.
11, 1998, Baptist Standard article about a Purdue University sociologist's
take on how the IRS ban on church politicking came to be.
• About.com
offers a collection
of articles on religious tax exemption under its atheism category.
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