Slog
News & ArtsMonday, August 27, 2012
Politics WA Catholic Church Begins Fundraising Directly for Anti-Gay Election PAC
Posted by Dominic Holden on Mon, Aug 27, 2012 at 11:39 AM
From the pulpit, Catholic priests in Washington State must ask parishioners in the pews next month to stuff specially made campaign envelopes with their cash, and then church staff will mail the haul to a PAC trying to overturn same-sex marriage on the fall ballot.
That's the decree of Joseph J. Tyson, the bishop in Yakima, Washington, who says the clergy must ask Catholics for a give a "generous donation" to the campaign trying to reject Referendum 74.
"I am asking you to announce a special parishioner financial appeal at each Mass on the weekend of August 25/26 or September 1/2—whichever one you choose—to promote the September 8/9 in-pew collection for the Preserve Marriage Washington campaign," Tyson wrote in a letter earlier this month (.pdf). As Joel also noted, Tyson added, "Please Note: This is not a parish collection. Please be sure that parish staff knows that these envelopes are NOT to be opened or recorded by the parish."
That's not all: Bishop Tyson followed-up in a letter posted on his blog last Thursday, telling priests to reserve their Sunday masses in the first weekend of October to read his anti-gay campaign statement during mass, saying, "clear your parish calendars of any other items that day."
This anti-gay campaigning appears to be at the behest of Seattle's archbishop, J. Peter Sartain, who presides over the state's Catholic conference. In January, Sartain made an all-out pledge to raise money and campaign to defeat gay rights on the fall ballot.
Now you may be wondering, how does a tax-exempt, religious nonprofit legally engage in campaign activities, when those activities—fundraising for a PAC—are typically not tax exempt?
Indeed, this is not only a brazen attempt to fuse church and state, Archbishop Tyson is also hedging closer to the line of using a 501(c)(3) church for non-tax-deductible purposes. But that is legal, in limited doses, according to the IRS guide for religious organizations, which explains that "no substantial part of [a church's] activity may be attempting to influence legislation." So it's generally believed that Tyson and the church aren't violating the law unless they're using a "substantial" part of the church's resources, or about one-third of its resources, for campaign purposes—and I don't think he is, because writing this letter amounts to a fraction of the church's overall budget and activity. That said, I do think Tyson is using a substantial heft of the church's influence for campaign purposes. And he may be using it to collect a substantial chunk of what parishioners contribute over the course of a year while sitting in those pews.
Perhaps that's an intellectually dishonest way to shirk the spirit of election law. But then again, Archbishop Tyson is a dishonest politician. His letter explains: "The Church does not engage in partisan politics, but it has an obligation to teach about moral values of the issues facing society." Maybe Tyson can explain how it works, that they are nonpartisan, than Cardinal Timothy Dolan—the president of all the archbishops in the US—is delivering the closing prayer at the GOP convention this week.
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you ignorant little pussy.
churches may not campaign for candidates.
they may campaign for or against policy proposals.
they must have covered that point of federal tax law the year you skipped......
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The difference is that liberal churches are deciding to do this themselves. They aren't being told to do so by their superiors.
As mentioned, churches can work on referendum and initiative campaigns without jeopardizing their tax exempt status. What they cannot do is work for specific candidates.
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@6) As the IRS document I linked to explains:
Legislation includes action by Congress, any state legislature, any local council, or similar governing body, with respect to acts, bills, resolutions, or similar items (such as legislative confirmation of appointive offices), or by the public in a referendum, ballot initiative, constitutional amendment, or similar procedure.
Like I said, they can spend money on these activities related to policy proposals in limited quantity. Thanks for playing Slog. Better luck next time!
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Please.
A supercilious Slog commenter turns out to be smugly ignorant in their arrogant and baseless claims? Heavens forfend!
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There is no law that states that non Catholics don't have the right to sit in on Catholic services. Don't be disruptive, just sit there silently. And take all the empty envelopes that come your way.
Lets try this....
We should string up some niggers from the nearest tree....
ooooh.
The SPLC wouldn't like that.
Not at all.
Lucky for you anti-xtian bigotry is A-OK in these Qunited States of Gaymerica.
don't get smart with us, you little piece of shit
how, exactly, is the AB "hedging closer to the line", asswipe?
and it matters not at all what size chunk of what parishioners contribute he is collecting, as long as those donations are not to the Church.
next time perhaps you could shove your innuendo up your ass and try to fuse an intelligent thought and your brain.....
(did you piss on yourself when Warren brayed...prayed at Obama's inaugural?)
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Answer:
http://www.rosarychurch.net/answers/qa06…
Why did you promote Tyson to an archbishop? Even the Catholic hierarchy finds him an annoying guy so they shipped him off to Yakima, so the bishop in Seattle didn't have to deal with him anymore.
http://washingtonunitedformarriage.org/c…
The list grows daily. And, yes, they/we are raising money and working to educate voters about why some people of faith support marriage equality BECAUSE of our faith.
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