Rep. Lynn Woolsey (D-Calif.), co-chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, has called for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops to lose their tax exempt status. Rep. Woolsey is angry that the Catholic Bishops were loud advocates for restrictions on abortion in the Affordable Health Care for America Act.
I expect political hardball on any legislation as important as the health care bill.
I just didn’t expect it from the United States Council of Catholic Bishops (USCCB).
Who elected them to Congress?
The role the bishops played in the pushing the Stupak amendment, which unfairly restricts access for low-income women to insurance coverage for abortions, was more than mere advocacy.
They seemed to dictate the finer points of the amendment, and managed to bully members of Congress to vote for added restrictions on a perfectly legal surgical procedure.
And this political effort was subsidized by taxpayers, since the Council enjoys tax-exempt status.
When I visit churches in my district, we are very careful to keep everything “non-political” to protect their tax-exempt status.
The IRS is less restrictive about church involvement in efforts to influence legislation than it is about involvement in campaigns and elections.
Given the political behavior of USCCB in this case, maybe it shouldn’t be.
Rep. Lynn Woolsey (D-Calif.) is co-chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus.
Chuck Currie, pro-choice advocate and United Church of Christ minister, has written a fine post titled Lynn Woolsey’s Threat Against Catholics A Threat to Religious Liberty. I agree with Currie. Issue advocacy is indeed protected and religious liberty advocates must counter the rants of politicians who would like to see religious voices ousted from the public square.
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Agreed! Fine post.
I disagree. Those Bishops might enter politics as individuals, but when they use the resources of their church for political purposes, they should lose their tax-exempt status. Too many church leaders are involving their churches in political races and preaching politics in the pulpit. In our area they have put political signs in the church yards. That’s political activism, pure and simple.
What do the political signs out front of the churches say? Are they endorsing a candidate?
Obviously, IRS forbids churches to endorse candidates for political office, etc. The law as it currently exists would have to be changed in order to be in line with your argument.
But the Catholic Bishops using their voices to influence the Health Care Reform process is really no different that the Baptist Joint Committee’s efforts backing legislation such as the Equal Access Act and the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, etc.
And the Catholic Bishops political advocacy is really no different than the advocacy of those Black Church leaders from the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (MLK, Abernathy, etc.) in support of civil rights legislation in the 1960s.
Amen, BDW, we agree!
Progessive = Pro-abortion liberal.
[...] a month ago, I wrote about Rep. Lynn Woolsey (D-Calif.), co-chair of th Congressional Progressive Caucus, who called for [...]