|
Does the IRS intentionally discriminate against Bible-believing churches and ministries the agency believes to be conservative or politically incorrect? The evidence is mounting that this is the case.
Separately in this newsletter, we are reprinting an article published in The Washington Times newspaper which reports on the ruling by a federal district court in Washington, D.C. The court held that Pastor Dan Little and his tiny church at Pierce Creek in New York state "had furnished evidence it has a genuine claim the IRS intentionally discriminated in lifting its tax exemption."
The federal judge overseeing this case said the record suggests that the IRS treated this Bible-believing church group, "in a significantly different fashion from the way it has treated other churches and/or religious organizations that have engaged in overt political campaign activity."
Even at a time when the IRS is under congressional scrutiny for its unlawful attacks on everyday citizens, the leaders of the taxing bureaucracy are actively conducting a sweeping series of witchhunt audits directed at religiously conservative churches and ministries.
Christians Seven Times More Likely to be Audited
An Associated Press news report stated that, according to statistics recently obtained from the IRS under the Freedom of Information Act, the IRS is auditing Christian radio broadcasters at a rate seven times greater than other radio broadcasters. In other words, if you are host of a Christian radio program, you're seven times more likely to be targeted by the IRS.
Ever since the Clinton administration took office, the IRS has been attacking churches, groups, and ministries believed to be ideological enemies of liberal, left-wing extremism. Churches or groups that expose the New World Order or teach the Biblical view about a One World Government arising in the last days are especially at risk.
The current IRS examination of Living Truth Ministries' "Philosophy and Viewpoints" is instructive. Even though this ministry is strictly nonpartisan and endorses no political candidates of any political party, we were targeted for examination and, I believe, destruction, by the IRS.
It is true that Texe Marrs and Living Truth Ministries have opposed the sexual immorality of President Bill Clinton. We also have spoken out against Bill and Hillary's ungodly pro-abortion and pro-homosexual advocacy. It is our duty to do so, as we are following in the footsteps of godly prophets like Nathan, Elijah, Jeremiah, John the Baptist, and, yes, Jesus Christ our Lord.
But our standing up for ethical Biblical standards in America has nothing to do with the fact that the Clintons are Democrats. During the Reagan administration we took a stand against Nancy Reagan's use of astrology in the White House. In the George Bush era, we exposed the President's membership in the sinister Skull and Bones Society. Bush and Reagan were, of course, Republicans. Living Truth Ministries however, is neither Republican nor Democrat. We are pro-Jesus and pro-Bible Truth—period!
Left-Wing Churches Openly Political
While the IRS is furiously working to muzzle churches whose religious views the current administration disagrees with, liberal, left-wing churches are actively endorsing the Clintons. Hundreds of left-wing churches and tax exempt organizations are openly and blatantly engaging in political lobbying activities. They make no pretense that their political activities have anything to do with religion or the Bible. According to the IRS, churches are expressly prohibited from favoring or endorsing political parties or candidates. Neither can churches actively lobby for, or against, legislation.
Yet, in spite of this clear prohibition by the IRS against partisan political activity by churches, USA Today newspaper, the day before the recent Tuesday, November 3rd elections, published a feature story describing President Bill Clinton's patently political speech at a black Baptist Church in Baltimore, Maryland. What USA Today reported boggles the mind. Clinton, the ultimate religious hypocrite, got up in the pulpit and blasted the Republican Party and its candidates. He worked the crowd into a frenzy by telling the church that the Democratic Party was the only party good for African-Americans. Clinton proclaimed:
|
"Tuesday, everything gets evened up...If you show up to vote. There are only two places, only two where we have fulfilled the admonition of the scriptures and the promise of the founders that all of us are created equal. One is when you come into your house of worship on Sunday, and the other is when you show up at the ballot box." |
The same USA Today article reported that Clinton had met just the day before in Queens, New York, with 100 African-American clergy to "energize black voters."
Jesse Jackson was also busy politicking in liberal churches for the Democratic Party and its candidates. USA Today said that Jackson "held telephone conference calls with 300 black ministers to build a campaign structure."
Living Truth Ministries Singled Out
Unbelievable! Texe Marrs and Living Truth Ministries did not meet with even one politician of either party before the election. We invited no politicians on our radio programs. We never have. Yet, the IRS is threatening to punish this ministry and demanding we answer question after question about our "philosophy and viewpoints."
The IRS bluntly told me, "The agency is exploring whether your ministry's disparaging remarks about the morality of Bill and Hillary Clinton were a violation of IRS policies." Apparently, a Christian ministry's Biblical views on adultery and sexual immorality cannot be allowed in this age of political correctness and promiscuous behavior.
President Clinton's own church in Washington, D.C., Foundry United Methodist, a church I believe that he attends simply for show, is regularly involved in left-wing politics up to its neck. Meanwhile, across this nation, black and liberal churches and pastors cover up and make excuses for Clinton's sexual adultery. They have also turned their churches into Democratic Party clubhouses, and the IRS does nothing.
I Just Want to Know
Can anyone out there explain why the Reverend Jesse Jackson's Operation Push, a nonprofit, 501(c)3 tax exempt charity organization, can get away with bashing evangelical, Bible-believing Christians, promoting liberal, left-wing Communist causes, and campaigning on national television for the Democratic Party?
I'm not saying that Jackson or other black and liberal pastors do not have the constitutional right to do this. In fact, I believe their activities are fully protected by the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. I just want to know why Indianapolis Baptist Temple, which supports Biblical morality, has just been socked with a $5.1 million dollar lawsuit by the IRS and why Living Truth Ministries and other Bible-believing ministries and churches are being persecuted while hundreds of liberal churches and radical, left-wing organizations across America are left alone, free to participate in extremist political activities and to speak their minds and publish outrageous defamation and libel against their perceived enemies.
Actually, I already know the answer, and so do you. The IRS's campaign is not really directed at Texe Marrs, Living Truth Ministries, or Bible-believing churches. The IRS has decided to fight against God. And that, dear friends, is a very very foolish thing to do.
|
| President Clinton's liberal pastor, the Reverend J. Philip Wogaman, claims that, "sexual misconduct does not automatically render a leader immoral." (Austin American-Statesman, March 8, 1998). Wogaman's church, Foundry United Methodist Church, in Washington, D.C., once had a speaker who declared from the pulpit that, "Jesus was a transvestite drag queen." Wogaman has been a bitter critic of Independent Prosecutor Kenneth Starr's investigation into Clinton wrongdoing. Wogaman and his church are heavily involved in politics, environmental extremism, and liberal social issues unrelated to religion. The IRS lets Wogaman's church and other left-wing groups get away with this because they are "politically correct." |
|
|
