Conservative Churches Scrutinized for Illegal Political Activity

Interview with Tim Mooney, senior counsel, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, conducted by Scott Harris

The role of religion in American politics has been on the rise as the Republican party has become increasingly identified with, and beholden to, Christian fundamentalist groups. The political agenda of conservative religious organizations that oppose abortion, gay marriage and stem cell research has been fully adopted by the GOP. In turn, religious activists have been extremely successful at turning out their conservative base at election time to back Republican candidates. Almost a quarter of U.S. voters who cast ballots in the 2004 Presidential election identified themselves as born-again or evangelical Christians - with a vast majority of them supporting President Bush.

During the 2004 campaign documents surfaced, which indicated that the Bush-Cheney re-election operation had urged Christian supporters to turn over church directories, seeking to identify friendly congregations. This activity fueled accusations that the Bush campaign supported churches that violated laws barring tax exempt charities from engaging in any type of partisan political campaigning.

In the midst of the hotly contested 2006 Congressional campaign, the nonpartisan group, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington filed a complaint asking the Internal Revenue Service to investigate the role that two churches may have played in the re-election campaign of the Kansas' attorney general, a Republican. Other allegations of IRS rules violations have been leveled at religious groups in California, Minnesota, Missouri, and Ohio. Spokespersons for CREW have asked why the IRS has confined their investigations to liberal organizations such as the NAACP and a liberal church in California. Between The Lines' Scott Harris spoke with Tim Mooney, senior counsel for Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington. He discusses his group's concern that the IRS is unfairly targeting progressive groups while ignoring politically conservative church violators.

Contact Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, CREW by calling (202) 408-5565 or visit their website at www.citizensforethics.org

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