I knew a little about this back in 2004 when it first came up, on Crooks and Lairs today there is a piece about the IRS investigation of All Saint’s Episcopal Church in Pasadena, CA. Why Doesn’t the IRS Investigate James Dobson? Basically a former rector of the parish delivered an anti-war sermon a couple of days before the 2004 elections. Not long after that the IRS came knocking threating to revoke the parish’s tax exempt status. The reason: The Rev. George Regas’ sermon was seen as “endorsing or campaigning against a candidate in an election.”
So why isn’t organizations like James Dobson’s Focus on the Family being threatened with revocation of tax-exempt status? Many of the “christian right” groups are activively campaigning for and against candidates. Yet few of these groups are being investigated for violations of the tax code.
