Fallout from the 2012 election cycle continues:
A secular group has filed a complaint with the Internal Revenue Service against the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, alleging that the ministry’s activity during the election season violates its tax exempt status.
Freedom From Religion Foundation, a Wisconsin-based organization, argued in its filed report that BGEA’s “vote biblical values” ad campaign violated the IRS’ rules on religious groups and political campaigning.
“BGEA, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, has run full-page ads publicizing Billy Graham’s call for the electorate to ‘vote biblical values,'” said FFRF in a statement last week. “The ads have appeared in several ‘swing state’ newspapers in preparation for tomorrow’s heated presidential election. Throughout the month of October, BGEA published articles favorable to Romney, which included a statement by Billy Graham.”
I was wondering if anybody was going to address this. While reps from the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association (BGEA) say the ad didn’t specifically endorse a candidate, they were well within legal boundaries. Rob Boston, senior policy analyst for Americans United for Separation of Church and State disagrees.
“I believe a strong case can be made that the Graham ministry violated federal law. IRS guidelines allow churches and ministries to engage in issue advocacy, they warn against tying such advocacy to a candidate,” said Boston.
“IRS rules make it clear that a church or ministry can endorse a candidate even without mentioning his or her name.”
Boston also told CP that while every election year has its share of complaints over “church politicking,” complaints for the 2012 election season “skyrocketed.”
“I have been monitoring this issue for Americans United since 1996, and I’ve never seen a year like this one before. Complaints are way up,” said Boston. “Even allowing for duplications of reports, the number of incidents of church politicking has really skyrocketed this year.”
What can we expect from the complaint?
While participants often record their sermons and send them to the IRS, the government organization rarely takes action in response.
