When does religious speech become political speech?

Published: Oct. 30, 2011 at 3:30 AM
By MICHAEL KIRKLAND

WASHINGTON, Oct. 30 (UPI) -- With the American political season nearly in full venom, the U.S. Supreme Court is being given the chance to decide when a religious organization wanders off course into the realm of political advocacy, endangering the organization's tax-exempt status.

Also in the petition bringing that question to the high court: Whether the Internal Revenue Service can avoid a constitutional ruling by refunding taxes back to the non-profit organization while at the same time maintaining the taxes were correctly assessed.

The case involves Catholic Answers Inc. and its founder, Karl Keating, and an uncharacteristically timid IRS. But the organization said the IRS policy involved "affects the speech of hundreds if not thousands of non-profit organizations."

If the Supreme Court agrees to review the case, it should be of particular interest to abortion rights advocates (code words for "Democrats"), who may feel the heat from powerful Catholic institutions.


http://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2011/10/30/Under-the-US-Supreme-Court-When-does-religious-speech-become-political-speech/UPI-68991319959800/?spt=hs&or=tn

Problem solved.

I am not talking about that "Blessed are the poor" or "Blessed are the peacemakers" stuff, which despite its importance is always blown off by the right.

if true, will kill 'em...


That's WAY over the top. If The SC goes with Catholic Answers, grab your scissors and snip another piece off your constitution.

Read more: http://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2011/10/30/Under-the-US-Supreme-Court-When-does-religious-speech-become-political-speech/UPI-68991319959800/#ixzz1cJ6qR0oh

but any church that is actively trying to get its dogma inserted into civil law to the extent Rome is should be taxed as a political organization.

Future courts are going to have to work full time to overturn the appalling decisions this court has made and will continue to make until the arch conservatives die off and are replaced.

I find it appalling that churches can put so much money and muscle into things like ballot measures (Prop8 for example) while still remaining tax-exempt.

when they cross the line and advocate for a political party, a candidate or try to influence the outcome of an election.

CA freely admits that it engaged in political speech. The IRS said that it engaged in express advocacy:



If CA wins on this, tax exempt institutions will compete with corporations for complete control of the political process in the US. Since we're just about there anyway, I'm not sure how much real difference the decision will make.

By Kevin J. Jones

... the lawsuit’s success is “highly unlikely,” said Lloyd Hitoshi Mayer, a University of Notre Dame Law School professor.

“Except under relatively rare circumstances, none of which exist here, successfully obtaining Supreme Court review is unlikely because the Court denies most requests for review,” Mayer told CNA on Oct. 24. “It is even more unlikely in this case because both the trial court and the appellate court - without dissent - found that the case was moot.”

Even if the Supreme Court agreed to hear the case, he added, it would likely confirm the finding of the lower court and affirm the dismissal of the lawsuit without considering its constitutional claim ...

The IRS ordered the organization to pay excise taxes for 2004 and 2005. However, the IRS in 2009 decided to lift the excise taxes and pay interest to Catholic Answers because the alleged political activity was “not willful and flagrant,” the California Catholic Daily reports ...

http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/catholic-answers-lawsuit-against-irs-unlikely-to-succeed/