A quick regression ...

I was watching the news today and heard about a church in California that is being investigated by the IRS and it's tax-exempt status is being threatened. So I did some quick Internet research because I thought you guys would be interested.

"The Internal Revenue Service began investigating whether All Saints, one of the largest Episcopal churches in the country, violated the prohibition against tax-exempt organizations intervening in election campaigns by supporting or opposing candidates."

All Saints is a church in Pasadena, Calif. The issue relates to a sermon that was given right before the 2004 election in which a preacher described a hypothetical conversation between Jesus, Bush and Kerry. Read the sermon. Read the letter the IRS sent to the church.

According to NPR, the IRS is examining about 60 churches over complaints stemming from endorsements by churches in the 2004 election. NPR also notes that it's illegal for a tax-exempt organization like a church to endorse or criticize candidates.

Here's an article in the San Francisco Chronicle for more info. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/10/02/CHURCH.TMP

Here's the church's Web site: http://www.allsaints-pas.org/all_saints_church.htm