Tag Archives: Alliance Defense Fund

The Susan G. Komen Foundation Has Announced That It Has Severed Its Partnership With Some Planned Parenthood Affiliates

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CBN News reported today that the Susan G. Komen Charity has severed its partnership with some Planned Parenthood affiliates. Congress is currently investigating Planned Parenthood to see if it improperly used public money for abortions.

The article reports:

In December, the Southern Baptist Convention’s publishing division recalled pink Bibles it had sold to benefit the charity.

Pro-life groups welcomed the news. the Alliance Defense Fund praised Komen “for seeing the contradiction between its lifesaving work and its relationship with an abortionist that has ended millions of lives.”

Last year, the Komen Foundation gave around $680,000 and in 2010, $580,000 to at least 19 Planned Parenthood clinics.

Planned Parenthood has claimed that it does mammograms and other cancer screening; but, as I reported in March of last year (rightwinggranny.com), there is some genuine question as to whether or not they actually provide those services.

As previously reported, when a women seeking to make an appointment for a mammogram called her local Planned Parenthood clinic, she was told that the clinic did not provide that service:

“In fact, one center told the caller that “we don’t deal with the health side of it so much.  We’re mostly a surgical center”:”

If Planned Parenthood actually provided mammograms, it would be reasonable for a charity fighting breast cancer to support them. Since Planned Parenthood seems to be totally focused on performing abortions (which unfortunately has become a major industry in this country), it makes sense that the Komen charity would sever their ties with Planned Parenthood.

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Why Not Just Get Rid Of The Stupid Law ?

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From the time America began, the Church has had a role to play in the community. When Connecticut was settled, a group of pilgrims to the New World were not allowed to form a community unless they had a Pastor with them. Many of the pulpits of America spoke out against slavery before the War Between the States. The American Revolution was partially fueled from the pulpits of America. Historically, the church matters.

Today’s Daily Caller posted a story about a speech given by Valerie Jarrett in Atlanta on Martin Luther King Day. The speech was given at Ebenezer Baptist Church.

The article reports:

On Sunday President Barack Obama’s controversial aide, Valerie Jarrett, used the Ebenezer pulpit to tell the congregation that the jobs of teachers, police and firefighters “are now in jeopardy because Congress — well, let me be specific — because [of] the Republicans in Congress.”

According to current Internal Revenue Service (IRS) rules:

“Voter education or registration activities with evidence of bias that (a) would favor one candidate over another; (b) oppose a candidate in some manner; or (c) have the effect of favoring a candidate or group of candidates, will constitute prohibited participation or intervention,” according to the IRS website.

Erik Stanley, a senior legal counsel with the Alliance Defense Fund (ADF), has stated that if the church is charged with violating IRS rules, the ADF will defend the church. The goal of the ADF is to increase freedom in the pulpit.
 

I don’t believe candidates or political parties should go into churches and raise campaign funds–I find that offensive. But I do believe that the church has the right and the responsibility to provide a moral perspective on the issues of the day. In the case of the Christian church, that would be a Biblical perspective. I also think that it is the responsibility of Christians to be informed voters who understand how our representative republic works.

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Free Speech ?

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April 30: George Washington becomes the first ...

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The Daily Caller reported yesterday that tomorrow is “Pulpit Freedom Sunday.” The event was created in 2008 by the Alliance Defense Fund to protest the limits on free speech imposed on church pastors.

The article reports:

Houses of worship, like other non-profit organizations, pay no federal income tax and can promise tax deductions to their donors. In return, the IRS forbids churches from attempting to “influence legislation as a substantial part of its activities” or “participate in any campaign activity for or against political candidates.”

Before I attempt to tear this argument to shreds, I need to explain where I am coming from. I attend a Pentecostal church. The church believes in the Bible and what it says about the moral issues that all of us deal with every day. Sometimes those moral issues are reflected in laws that are proposed or in political platforms. Isn’t it a pastor’s obligation to speak out concerning those issues?

The freedom of speech of pastors should not have any relation to their tax-exempt status. To connect those two things is to allow the IRS to control what is said in the pulpits of America. That is ridiculous.

I would also like to point out that all churches do not believe the same things. There is probably as much of the political spectrum represented in the pulpit as there is in the general population of America, so why do we need to restrict speech in our churches?

The Tennessean reported today:

The ban on nonprofit political endorsements dates to the 1950s. Lyndon B. Johnson was mad at nonprofits that opposed his re-election, so “he rammed these rules through to punish his opponents,” said Richard Hammar, editor of Church Law and Tax Report.

The IRS has not punished any pastors involved in Pulpit Freedom events. Hammar said both conservative and liberal churches often ignore the ban without consequences.

It is time to repeal this law. The church was the moral compass of colonial America. Our founders would be appalled at the idea that pastors would be prevented from speaking out on political issues. It wasn’t at all what they had in mind.

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