Catholics, evangelicals work toward Congress' passage of comprehensive immigration

[Capt Worley PE]

The congressional recess seems to be providing a vehicle for some movement on the immigration bill stalled in the House of Representatives. We are seeing evangelicals applying pressure to resistant members of Congress to support comprehensive immigration.

Evangelicals are asking their congregations to contact their legislators and pray for reform. They are targeting specific representatives in Illinois and across the country to gain support for the passage of this reform legislation.

The Evangelical Immigration Table, which includes groups both conservative and liberal and everything in between, is sponsoring a series of ads. Additional support comes from Barrett Duke, the vice president of the Southern Baptist Convention, who spoke on a conference call supporting the ads.

Support also comes from the Catholic Alliance for the Common Good, which has been targeting individual members of Congress. According to the group, several conservative members of Congress have changed their minds and agreed to support the bill. The alliance has enlisted the words of Pope Francis and Catholic social teaching in their efforts.

http://ncronline.org/blogs/ncr-today/catholics-evangelicals-work-toward-congress-passage-comprehensive-immigration

Any church that participates in politics should lose its tax exempt status, IMO.

This hit the local news yesterday and from what I'm hearing, the local Catholic churches are gonna be feeling repercussions at the offering plate and in attendance. People are not happy.

 

[csb]

An alliance is not the same as an actual church. Preaching from the pulpit is a different story.

 

[Capt Worley PE]

The Southern Baptists should have been stripped of tax free status decades ago. They've been doing pulpit campaigning for a long time.

 

[Exception Collection]

The Southern Baptists should have been stripped of tax free status decades ago. They've been doing pulpit campaigning for a long time.

A lot of churches should have. They even do a "Pulpit Freedom Sunday" where large numbers of churches (well, relatively large) preach politics from the pulpit specifically to push the IRS.

That said, it's not right. Non-profit/tax exempt status should not be based on if you are speaking your beliefs, even when they challenge the government. On the other hand, non-profit status should also not be based on whether you provide aid and succor as a church vs. as a library; if they want non-profit status, they should meet the same requirements as everyone else.

As for the topic of this thread - good. It drives me crazy to have the rabidly religious right wing portraying themselves as perfect Christians while acting like the Pharisees when it comes to the poor and alien. It's nice to have their churches say "Umm, guys..?" for once.

 

[YMZ PE]

That said, it's not right. Non-profit/tax exempt status should not be based on if you are speaking your beliefs, even when they challenge the government. On the other hand, non-profit status should also not be based on whether you provide aid and succor as a church vs. as a library; if they want non-profit status, they should meet the same requirements as everyone else.

This. God forbid our church should lose its tax-exempt status for talking about immigration reform as a social justice issue - which it is, if the Bible and that Jesus guy are to be believed.

 

[Capt Worley PE]

That said, it's not right. Non-profit/tax exempt status should not be based on if you are speaking your beliefs, even when they challenge the government. On the other hand, non-profit status should also not be based on whether you provide aid and succor as a church vs. as a library; if they want non-profit status, they should meet the same requirements as everyone else.

This. God forbid our church should lose its tax-exempt status for talking about immigration reform as a social justice issue - which it is, if the Bible and that Jesus guy are to be believed.

When they take the step of preaching who to vote for or they tell folks to contact their representatives, they have crossed a line, IMO.