[quote=flu]Come to think about it… the church/priest/whatever that came out and said voting for democrats is damning those people to hell… Didn’t they just violate what IRS Ruling 2007-41 said was prohibited?
CHURCHES POLITICAL CAMPAIGN ACTIVITY AND TAX EXEMPT STATUS
Political activity by a Church can jeopardize its tax-exempt status under IRC § 501(c)(3).
Partisan Campaign Support or Opposition Prohibited:
A church, as a tax-exempt organization under Internal Revenue Code (“IRC”) § 501(c)(3), is absolutely prohibited from directly or indirectly participating or intervening in any political campaign in support or opposition to any candidate for elective public office. See Treasury Regulation §1.501(c)(3)—1(c)(3)(iii).
This prohibition applies to all national (federal), state, or local elective public office campaigns.
See IRS Revenue Ruling 2007-41 (provides concise summary of law, factors, and 21 situational factual examples covering a wide range of issues within this topic).
Note: A church pastor or minister may mention a candidate or a near future election but may not speak in favor of (or encourage the congregation to vote for or against) a particular candidate.
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Later in the article you linked to, there is the following:
The Roman Catholic Diocese of San Diego on Wednesday said the messages in the flier and bulletin do not reflect Catholic teaching or diocese policies, are inappropriate, and that voters should use their conscience to determine which candidates to support.
“It’s not a mortal sin to vote for Democrats, number one. And number two, the church doesn’t take positions on this, and we’re not going to,” diocese spokesman Kevin Eckery said.
