About nine months ago, I commented on the story that the IRS is being used as a political tool. There are churches under investigation by the IRS, in danger of losing their tax-exempt status because of their dalliances in the realm of politics. Now, don’t get me wrong–I think that churches should remain utterly neutral in politics; left-leaning or right-leaning, it doesn’t matter. A church can espouse morality, but it should stay away from endorsements or engagement in politics. So it’s not the fact that churches are being investigated that I object to. It’s the political bias implicit in the investigations.

Politicization at the pulpit does goon, and rather heavily on the conservative side. The Republican Party asks for and gets church directories, essentially mailing lists of churchgoing members to beef up their contributions and get-out-the-vote drives. Many churches, especially Baptist churches in the South, commonly endorse politicians (overwhelmingly right-wing, of course), and leading religious figures such as Jerry Falwell commonly work for the Republican Party both directly and indirectly, using their tax-exempt organizations to do so. The Catholic Church even went so far in 2004 as to deny Kerry communion because of his abortion beliefs–despite the fact that the church did not condemn all politicians who hold the same opinions, including some right-wing politicians.

I cannot find any mention that any of these organizations are being investigated by the IRS for encroaching upon political ground.

There are, however, churches being investigated and in danger of losing their tax-exempt status: liberal churches. As I mentioned in January, the All Saints Episcopal Church in Pasadena, CA, is being investigated because a retired pastor made a guest appearance in which he commented on the 2004 election. And though it has since been cleared, a heavy IRS investigation of the NAACP for similar reasons begs the question: why are liberal organizations being targeted by the IRS when conservative churches and other tax-exempt organizations–which are far more commonly and vehemently political–are left alone?

Well, now, just as the 2006 elections are ramping up, the IRS is kick-starting their investigation of the All Saints Episcopal Church again, this time demanding that the church “turn over all the documents and e-mails it produced during the 2004 election year with references to political candidates” as well as financial record.

As others have noted, the timing of this stinks, if you will forgive the expression, to high heaven. But, at the same time, it is not a great surprise–this administration is by no means above using Nixonian dirty tricks–and the IRS–to get what they want this election year.