Topic: Current Affairs
Well this is so tacky! The Mainstream Coalition is sending out people to conservative churches to make sure they are not advocating political positions in church.
A recent Sunday found Tina Kolm changing her morning routine. Instead of attending a Unitarian Universalist service, she was at the Lenexa Christian Center, paying close attention to a conservative minister's sermon about the importance of amending the U.S. Constitution to ban gay marriage.
Kolm is one of about 100 volunteers for the Mainstream Coalition, a group monitoring the political activities of local pastors and churches. The coalition, based in suburban Kansas City, says it wants to make sure clergy adhere to federal tax guidelines restricting political activity by nonprofit groups, and it's taking such efforts to a new level.
The 47-year-old Kolm, from Prairie Village, said keeping church and state separate is important to her. She doesn't want a few religious denominations defining marriage - or setting other social policy - for everyone.
"What it's all about to me is denying some people's rights," she said.
But some local clergy think the Mainstream Coalition is using scare tactics designed to unfairly keep them out the political process.
"Somebody is trying to act like Big Brother when there's no need for Big Brother," said the Rev. James Conard, assistant pastor at the First Baptist Church of Shawnee. "It's obviously an intent to intimidate."
Kansas isn't the only place in this election year where church-state separation has become a hot issue, but the Mainstream Coalition's efforts are more intense than most.
Americans United for Separation of Church and State filed a complaint this month with the Internal Revenue Service against the Rev. Jerry Falwell over a column endorsing President Bush on his ministries' Web site. Falwell said the group was waging a "scare-the-churches campaign."
Barry Lynn, executive director of Americans United, said local chapters have sent volunteers to church services the Sunday before an election, but he said the Mainstream Coalition's efforts are more sustained.
"To my knowledge, there's no other state organization doing what the Mainstream Coalition is doing," said Lynn, himself a United Church of Christ minister.
Some conservatives are upset.
"These people will stop at nothing to silence churches," said Andrea Lafferty, executive values of the Washington-based Traditional Values Coalition, which says it represents 43,000 churches.
The catalyst for the Mainstream Coalition's campaign in Kansas was the debate over gay marriage.
So, who is checking up on the sermons at the Unitarian church where Ms. Kolm attends? I attended a UU church for years and know that they are strongly political. The difference is the liberal churches call it "careing for people" but when a conservative church does it it's called hateful. Right! The Unitarians are very strongly political and have advocated political positions in every service and program they have. How about the Mainstream Coalition getting conservative christians to check up on UU churches. Gee, I don't know. Maybe that's too hateful. How dare anyone suggest that a liberal church can't advocate whatever they want.
I do see that the Mainstream Coalition is using the usual tactic of saying Oh, they aren't political. All the political stuff is done by their political action committee, Main PAC. Sure! I believe that . . not.
Well, I'm off to my liberal Episcopal church and I can't really say that I've heard them advocate who to vote for but I have heard sermons that advocate positions that aren't held by President Bush. So, if the conservative churches advocate positions not held by Kerry, it's illegal, but if liberal churches advocate positions not held by Bush, it's ok?
Posted by rachela
at 9:03 AM MDT
