4um: Churches could face IRS probe (TV preacher Parlsey is one)

Title: Churches could face IRS probe (TV preacher Parlsey is one)
Source: Columbus Dispatch
URL Source: http://www.dispatch.com/news-story. ... 2006/01/16/20060116-A1-00.html
Published: Jan 16, 2006
Author: Mike Harden and Joe Hallett
Post Date: 2006-01-16 13:20:24 by Zipporah
Keywords: Churches, preacher, Parlsey
Views: 176
Comments: 15

More than 30 local pastors last night officially accused two evangelical megachurches of illegal political activities.

In a rare and potentially explosive action, the moderate ministers signed a complaint asking the Internal Revenue Service to investigate World Harvest Church of Columbus and Fairfield Christian Church of Lancaster and determine if their tax-exempt status should be revoked.

The grievance claims that the Rev. Rod Parsley of World Harvest Church and the Rev. Russell Johnson of Fairfield Christian Church improperly used their churches and affiliated entities — the Center for Moral Clarity, Ohio Restoration Project and Reformation Ohio — for partisan politics, including supporting the Republican gubernatorial candidacy of Secretary of State J. Kenneth Blackwell.

The complaint asks the IRS to seek a court injunction "if these churches’ flagrant political campaign activities do not cease immediately." It was signed by 31 pastors from nine denominations during a meeting last night at the North Congregational United Church of Christ in Columbus and was to be faxed late last night to IRS Commissioner Mark W. Everson.

"For me, it’s church and state, not church in state and I really feel there are some churches in central Ohio crossing that line," said Eric Williams, senior pastor of the host church. "The law allows church involvement in issues. This goes beyond issue-involvement to partisan politics and we’re simply asking the IRS to uphold the law."

Williams and the other signers stressed that they were acting individually and not on behalf of their congregations, whose affiliations include: The American Baptist Churches/USA; the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ); the Episcopal Church in the USA; the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America; Judaism; the United Church of Christ; the United Methodist Church; Presbyterian Church, USA; and the Unitarian Universalist Association.

The complaint makes three main allegations:

• That church-sponsored events conducted by Parsley and Johnson have showcased a single gubernatorial candidate — Blackwell.

• That Parsley and Johnson have launched a "partisan-oriented" voter-registration campaign "with the goal of registering 400,000 voters to support Blackwell’s candidacy."

• That Parsley and Johnson have been behind efforts to distribute "biased voter education" materials aimed at solidifying voter support for Blackwell.

Johnson said last night that his church and its affiliate, the Ohio Restoration Project, do not support candidates and he was disappointed to learn about the complaint.

"It’s sad to see the religious left and the secular left forge an unholy alliance against people of faith," Johnson said. "We have invited people to pray, to serve and to engage, and candidly, we will not be intimidated or bullied by these folks."

In a statement e-mailed to The Dispatch last night, Mark Youngkin, spokesman for Parsley, did not directly address the allegations. But he said the World Harvest Church, Center for Moral Clarity and Reformation Ohio are separate nonprofit ministries "who are committed to full compliance with all applicable federal tax laws governing" the organizations.

"Voter registration has been encouraged — without regard to political affiliation — from diverse communities, including predominantly urban neighborhoods in Toledo and the Miami Valley," he said.

The IRS complaint, launched by members of mainline Judeo-Christian denominations, represents a deepening concern that leaders of the evangelical religious right are mounting an assault on the separation of church and state.

John Green, a University of Akron authority on religion and politics, said the complaint is extraordinary because it was filed by pastors rather than watchdog groups that routinely monitor church and state issues.

"This complaint is detailed and complex enough that I think the IRS is going to say, ‘We better look into this,’ " said Green, author of Religion and the Culture Wars.

Jack Seville, Ohio conference minister of the United Church of Christ, was among those asking the IRS to investigate.

"I would raise a question about any church, be it of the left or the right, that would endorse a candidate or ask its members to vote only for a specific candidate on the basis of its religious or moral values," Seville said.

"There were a number of people within my denomination who were framers of the Constitution. That’s why alarm bells go off when I see churches becoming directorial instead of letting the individual church member make up his or her own mind."

Rabbi Harold Berman of the Columbus synagogue Tifereth Israel, who also signed the complaint, said: "There are some Jewish groups that cross the lines of church and state, and I’ve spoken out about that as well. It’s a violation of the law if we want to be tax exempt."

Marcus Owens, a Washington, D.C., tax attorney and director of the IRS tax-exempt division from 1990 to 2000, said that IRS investigations of churches typically involve theft, but examinations of churches for playing politics are becoming more common.

Owens, who helped the clergy draft the IRS petition, said they had extensively documented the alleged political activities of Parsley and Johnson and their affiliated organizations.

"You have a number of churches and charities involved with a number of road trips for Mr. Blackwell, all of which seem to be aimed at gaining him visibility for his political campaign," Owens said.

Blackwell, who often carries a Bible to GOP events, has actively courted Christian right voters and became a champion for many of them by leading the successful campaign to ban same-sex marriages through a ballot issue in the November 2004 election.

The complaint cites nine instances when Blackwell was featured at events by the churches or their entities. During an October gathering at the Ohio Statehouse orchestrated by Reformation Ohio and led by Parsley, the televangelist called upon supporters of his $38.5 milliona-year church and affiliated operations to sign up 400,000 voters statewide. Blackwell shared the dais with Parsley.

"Man your battle stations," Parsley commanded attendees, who had been bused Downtown from his World Harvest Church. "Ready your weapons. Lock and load. Let the reformation begin."

The University of Akron’s Green said the "most problematic allegation" in the IRS complaint involves preferential treatment accorded Blackwell by Parsley, Johnson and their affiliated organizations.

Marci A. Hamilton, a professor of constitutional law at the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law in New York City and an expert on the separation of church and state, said she was surprised by the pastors’ complaint.

"There are very few instances where anybody’s ever been turned in on this," she said. "Even though the laws are on the books, it’s rare that the law is enforced."

During the last 15 years or so, Hamilton added, churches have had "a tacit agreement" to look the other way and not criticize each other for political activities. But, she said, that appears to be changing as televangelists and conservative evangelical churches flex their muscles in the political arena.

"Those who have been in favor of separation of church and state have been pretty quiet, and it may be because they couldn’t get hold of the microphone. The agenda has been set by the religious right for so long."

Owens, who is representing a pacifist California church being audited because its former pastor delivered an anti-war sermon, said the number of investigations has grown dramatically of late, particularly under the Bush presidency.

"I think historically there were about 20 audits a year, and the number now is up to 50 or 100," he recalled from his 25-year tenure at the IRS, including 10 as head of its tax-exempt arm.

Owens said the jump in the number of church investigations has occurred because, since 2004, audits no longer require high-level approval in the IRS, and can be initiated by revenue agents or their subordinates.

"It is like doing away with the grand jury and giving authority to the cop on the beat," he said. "On its face, it really smells and suggests that there is something very wrong with how the IRS selects cases for review."

Supporters of Owens’ client church, All Saints Episcopal, of Pasadena, say that the IRS singled out the church for preaching against President Bush’s prosecution of the war in Iraq.

mharden@dispatch.com

jhallett@dispatch.com

I hate to rag on them, but I woke up thinking of that sick, twisted little ditty Homeland Insecurity came up with to terrorize the kids [nevermind that "All terror proceeds from us" - Protocols of Sion], and in the DC area at least, passing the edict that during the next terror event, they will cut off all cell phones, further isolating kids from their enslaved parents, and couple that with them getting ready to send us into another depression, putting HS in charge of our bank deposits and boxes, preparing the camps for resisters, and I think it's now or never....wake up, church!

The Money powers/Zionists have been behind every war this country has been involved with, including the Revolutionary War, having funded both sides. All have been for the purpose of harnessing Christians in the name of patriotism, to their war chariots, all so that they, the money powers can set up their global plantation over us all. Note all the CROSSES at National Cemetery, FAR outnumber the Star of David. The following are just a few relevant quotes about the Jews, that the ADL, the mouthpiece of the Federal Reserve, is so desperate to censor speech on the internet for. This is not to foment hatred of the Jews, but to open the blind eyes of the church in America, so that they can rise to the challenge God has put before them. We are to be the salt of the earth. We are not to be codependents in the Jews' heresy. We were chosen to be priests and kings, to shine the light of the Gospel into every dark corner, to be the messengers of peace and liberty to the captives, not harbingers of death, lies, and destruction.

"The Jew...is not content merely to destroy Christianity, but he preaches the gospel of Judaism; he not only assails the Catholic or the Protestant faith, but he incites to the unbelief, and then imposes on those whose faith he has undermined his own conception of the world, of morality and of life. He is engaged in his historic mission, the annihilation of the religion of christ." (Bernard Lazare, Antisemitism: It's History and Causes, Translated by Britons Publishing Co., London (1967)"

"Thanks to the terrible power of our International Banks, we have forced the Christians into wars without number. Wars have a special value for Jews, since Christians massacre each other and make more room for us Jews. Wars are the Jews' Harvest: The Jew Banks grow fat on Christian wars. Over 100-million Christians have been swept off the face of the earth by wars, and the end is not yet." (Rabbu Reichorn, speaking at the funeral of Grand Rabbi Simeon-Ben- Judah, 1869, Henry Ford also noted that: 'It was a Jew who said, 'Wars are the Jews' Harvest'; but no harvest is so rich as civil wars.' The International Jew: The World's Foremost Problem, Vol. III, p. 180)"

"I fear the Jewish banks with their craftiness and tortuous tricks will entirely control the exuberant riches of America. And use it to systematically corrupt modern civilization. The Jews will not hesitate to plunge the whole of Christendom into wars and chaos that the earth should become their inheritance." Bismarck

Coral Snake, this one is for you. Note the references to the Scythians and the "Stone of Destiny". While doing research on JAPHETH at http://wikipedia.com, I linked to some of the names there, and found many that reminded me of the traits of the Tribe of Dan [ships, metalworkers, horses, eagles, barbarians, idolators, robbers], the Scythians being prime examples. I told you I thought the Tribe of Dan was the missing link you were looking for. The following is adding fuel to the fire. I had said that I thought that "Dan is a Lion's whelp" was in reference to him springing from Dan/Laish, but later thought it might have something to do with Zarah/Zereh, the twin brother of Pharez, from whom Jesus descended. In the Bible, there is often conflict between twins. Abel and Cain being prime examples. Many scholars believe Cain was actually the devil's seed, and I concur. I have tried to find out exactly who Zarah and Pherez's mother was descended from, but the Bible is unclear, and in fact, I wonder if the truth was removed. The Jews removed two or three references to Israel being saved "from the wood", according to Justin Martyr, who saw some of the scriptures before they had censored all of them. However, the Talmudists have said that the "AntiChrist" [there have been many] would come from the Tribe of Dan. Zarah put his hand out first, and the midwife put the SCARLET CORD on his wrist. The Kaballah has something to do with a scarlet cord. After reading the following, recall the blasphemy at http://asis.com regarding the ROYAL HOUSE OF BRITAIN, and Zarah, and the Stone of Destiny. That stone, if it is in fact the original stone, is the stone that Jacob placed as an altar at the "gate of Heaven", and named it Bethel, which means House of God. Bethel is one of the cities where Jeroboam and Dan set up the golden calf. It was the place God had chosen to put His name, at first. Other than the stone tablets bearing the ten commandments, this may have been the FIRST "stone the builders rejected", Jesus Christ being the Stone God intended in 1 Kings 5. I ran across a story in the Bible last week I had never seen before, that of a Danite blaspheming the name of God, and being stoned to death for it. They have been antiChrist from the beginning. I'm trying to think of any of the other tribes being guilty of blaspheming God, and I am drawing a blank. Does this make any sense? His mother was a Danite, and HER father was an Egyptian.

"In its issue of 10 March, 1921 (No. 214) La Vieille France gives the version of this funeral oration which was published in La Russie Juive. It is perfectly clear that the funeral oration and the Protocols of the Elders of Zion come from one and the same mint. Both are prophetic; and the power which made the prophecies has been able to bring about their fulfillment. This oration is so important that we append to it an account of the fulfillment of each of the sections. There can no longer be any doubt as to whose is the power which is disturbing the world, creating World Unrest, and at the same time reaping all the profits. Jewry is enslaving all Christian peoples of the earth. There IS a Jew World Plot and it now stands finally and completely unmasked.

"There is a Jewish conspiracy against all nations; it occupies almost everywhere the avenues of power - a double assault of Jewish revolution and Jewish finance, revolution and finance. If I were God, I'd clean this mess up and I would start with cleaning the Money Changers out of the Federal Reserve. He does say in His Word that the gold and silver will be thrown in the streets. Since they aren't using money in Heaven now, we won't need any when He gets here. It will be done in earth as it is in heaven. Oh, I do thank God for that! Hallelujah!l bet you haven't heard this much praises, ever." (La Nouveau Mercure, Paris 1917, Rene Groos)

1). Every hundred years, We, the Sages of Israel, have been accustomed to meet in Sanhedrin in order to examine our progress towards the domination of the world which Jehovah has promised us, and our conquests over the enemy -- CHRISTIANITY.

"Judaism, which was destroyed politically (as a result of the destruction of the Temple in 70 A.D.), went forth into the great world. It adapted its possessions to its wanderings. I once compared it to an army going to war, a movable State."

Jews were compelled to smuggle their goods across from frontier to frontier; so they chose abstract wares, easy to stubble; and this gave them ability, despite ghettos and restrictions, to enter everywhere; and so it is that the Hebrew people have penetrated everywhere. The argument is that JUDAISM, BY PENETRATING AMONG THE CHRISTIANS, HAS GRADUALLY REINSTITUTED THE REMNANTS OF PAGANISM. SUCH PENETRATION HAS NOT BEEN WITHOUT DELIBERATE JEWISH CONNIVING IN THE SHAPE OF ASSISTANCE BESTOWED IN A THOUSAND WAYS, DEVICES AND DISGUISES. IT HAS BEEN AFFECTED IN GREAT MEASURE BY CRYPTO-JEWS, WHO HAVE PERMEATED CHRISTIANITY AND SPOKEN THROUGH THE MOUTH OF CHRISTIANITY (By false teachers, as we were warned of by Christ). BY THESE DEVICES OF THEIR JEWISH BLOOD; and owing to an instance for 'requital,' THEY (Jews, who, posing as Christian teachers - such as Mike Evans, Billy Graham, Jack Van Impe, and the Jews lackeys - such as Pat Robertson, Jerry Falwell, Jimmy Swaggert, Oral Roberts and almost all, if not all television evangelists) HAVE GRADUALLY INDUCED CHRISTIANITY TO ACCEPT WHAT WAS LEFT IN IT OF PAGAN ELEMENTS AS THEIR OWN; AND IT IS THEY (Those Jews, posing as Christians) WHO, IN PRINCIPLE (even though they are called by great Gentile names), OF DEMOCRACY, OF SOCIALISM, AND OF COMMUNISM. ALL THIS ACHIEVEMENT...HAS COME ABOUT CHIEFLY THROUGH UNKNOWN ANONYMOUS JEWS, JEWS IN SECRET, EITHER CRYPTO-JEWS WHO MINGLED AMONG THE CHRISTIANS AND NURTURED GREAT THINKERS FROM AMONG THEM; OR, THROUGH THE INFLUENCE OF JEWS, WHO, IN THE GREAT CRISES OF LIBERTY AND FREEDOM, HAVE STOOD BEHIND THE SCENES; OR THROUGH JEWISH TEACHERS AND SCHOLARS (Posing as Christians, men such as John Calvin*) FROM THE TIME OF THE MIDDLE AGES. It was disciples of Jewish teachers who headed the Protestant movements. These dogs, these haters of the Jews have a keen nose. In truth, JEWISH INFLUENCE IN GERMANY IS POWERFUL. It is impossible to ignore it. Marx was a Jew. His manner of thought was Jewish. His keenness of intellect was Jewish; and one of his forebears was a most distinguished rabbi endowed with a powerful mind. THE NEWSPAPERS, UNDER JEWISH CONTROL, obviously served as an auxiliary in all movements in favor of freedom. Not in vain have Jews been drawn toward journalism. In their hands IT BECAME A WEAPON HIGHLY FITTED TO MEET THEIR NEEDS...The MANY CHRISTIANS HAVE AT LAST REALIZED THIS SECRET, THAT JUDAISM HAS GRADUALLY PENETRATED THEM LIKE A DRUG...AND IS TRYING TO ORGANIZE THE FINAL BATTLE. TRUE CHRISTIANS ARE TRYING TO ORGANIZE ITS LAST WAR AGAINST JUDAISM. And there is no doubt that this warfare...is being waged specifically against Democracy, against Socialism. This is another world wide warfare again against the forces of Judaism. I venture to think that Socialism in its highest form is the fruit of the Jewish spirit, and the fruit of the world outlook of the prophets. It is they who were the first Socialists.

WAR IS NOW BEING WAGED AGAINST US {but unknown to most of Christianity. Because God's People refuse to accept knowledge and recognize the enemy}, AGAINST JUDAISM, not in our own land, but in the great outer world where we are scattered. They would 'smoke us out' of all the cracks and crannies where we have hidden. They would exterminate us like bacilli, and be rid of us." (N.H. Bialik, in an address delivered at the Hebrew University, Jerusalem, May 11, 1933, which appeared in Lines of Communication, Palestine, July, 1933) *(We Jews can boast of being the Creators of the Reformation! Calvin was one of our Children; he was of Jewish descent, and was entrusted by Jewish authority and encouraged with Jewish finance to draft his scheme in the Reformation. From a series of speeches at the B'nai B'rith Convention in Paris, published shortly afterwards in the London Catholic Gazette, February, 1936; Paris Le Reveil du Peuple published similar account a little later and Phillip II, by William Thomas Walsh)

2). This year, united over the tomb of our reverend Simeon-ben-Ihuda, we can state with pride that the past century has brought us very near to our goal, and that this goal will be very soon attained.

3). Gold always has been and always will be the irrestible power. Handled by expert hands it will always be the most useful lever for those who possess it, and the object of envy for those who do not. With gold we can buy the most rebellious consciences, can fix the rate of all values, the current prices of all products, can subsidize all State loans, and thereafter hold the state at our mercy.

4). Already the principal banks, the exchanges of the entire world, the credits of all the governments, are in our hands.

5). The other great power is The Press. by repeating without cessation certain ideas, the Press succeeds in the end in having them accepted as actualities. The Theater renders us analogous services. Everywhere the Press and the Theater obey our orders.

6). By the ceaseless praise of Democratic Rule we shall divide the Christians into political parties, we shall destroy the unity of their nations, we shall sow discord everywhere. Reduced to impotence, they will bow before the Law of Our Bank, always untied, and always devoted to our Cause.

7). We shall force the Christians into wars by exploiting their pride and their stupidity. They will massacre each other, and clear the ground for us to put our own people into.

8). The possession of the land has always brought influence and power. In the name of social Justice and Equality we shall parcel out the great estates; we shall give the fragments to the peasants who covet them with all their powers, and who will soon be in debt to us by the expense of cultivating them. Our capital will make us their masters. We in our turn shall become the great proprietors, and the possession of the land will assure the power to us.

9). Let us try to replace the circulation of gold with paper money; our chests will absorb the gold, and we shall regulate the value of the paper which will make us master of all the positions.

"The god of the Jews had been secularized and has become the god of this world,' Marx wrote. 'Money is the jealous god of the Jews, beside which no other god may stand.'" (David Horowitz, Human Events)

10). We count among us plenty of orators capable of feigning enthusiasm and of persuading mobs. We shall spread them among the people to announce changes which should secure the happiness of the human race. By gold and by flattery we shall gain the proletariat which will charge itself with annihilating Christian capitalism. We shall promise workmen salaries of which they have never dared to dream, but we shall also raise the price of necessities so that our profits will be greater still.

11). In this manner we shall prepare Revolutions which the Christians will make themselves and of which we shall reap the fruit.

12). By our mockeries and our attacks upon them we shall make their priests ridiculous then odious, and their religion as ridiculous and as odious as their clergy. Then we shall be masters of their souls...

13). We have already established our own men in all important positions. We must endeavor to provide the Goyim with lawyers and doctors; the lawyers are au courant with all interests; doctors once in the house, become confessors and directors of consciences.

14). But above all let us monopolize Education. By this means we spread ideas that are useful to us, and shape the children's brains as suits us.

15). If one of our people should unhappily fall into the hands of justice amongst the Christians, we must rush to help him; find as many witnesses as he needs to save him from his judges, until we become judges ourselves. [Noahide Law]

16). The monarchs of the Christian world, swollen with ambition and vanity, surround themselves with luxury and with numerous armies. We shall furnish them with all the money their folly demands, and so shall keep them on leash.

17). Let us take care not to hinder the marriage of our men with Christian girls, for through them we shall get our foot into the most closely locked circles. If our daughters marry Goyim they will be no less useful, for the children of a Jewish mother are ours. Let us foster the idea of free love, THAT WE MAY DESTROY AMONG CHRISTIAN WOMEN ATTACHMENT TO THE PRINCIPLES AND PRACTICES OF THEIR RELIGION.

18). For ages past the sons of Jews, despised and persecuted have been working to open up a path to power. They are hitting the mark. They control the economic life of the accursed Christians; their influence preponderates over politics and over manners.

19). At the wished for hour, fixed in advance, we shall let loose the Revolution, which by ruining all classes of Christianity will definitely enslave the Christians to Us. Thus will be accomplished the promise of God made to His People.

(16) The "Stone of Destiny" has been or is being returned to Scotland: After 700 years, the Stone of Scone (pronounced 'Skoon'), will be returned to the people of Scotland. The 336 lb. Red sandstone rock; the coronation seat of Scottish kings, when there was Scottish royalty, has been used in Westminister Abbey, as the coronation seat for English kings and queens, since Edward I removed the stone, ostensibly for "safe-keeping," in 1296.

****Historically, Israelites trace the stone's lineage to that of the stone Israelite Patriarch Jacob rested his head upon, when he dreamed of the heavenly ladder (Genesis 28:10-22). This "pillow stone" would later be anointed by Jacob and given the name "Bethel" (God's House), Jacob declaring, "The stone which I have set for a pillar, shall be God's house."

The stone was kept with the Children of Israel and revered as a coronation seat on which the kings of the House of David were crowned. Later, during the Assyrian captivity of the ten tribes, and later most of the other three, it is believed that the stone was taken, by fleeing Israelites, first into Spain, then north by sea to Ireland, where it remained for centuries.

The stone came to Scotland, via Ireland, during the 7th century A.D., and continued to be used, as it had been since the time of Solomon's Temple, as a coronation seat. In 843 A.D., Kenneth MacAlpin was crowned upon the stone as the first King of the United Kingdom of the Picts and Scots. This Stone of Destiny would later take on the name of "Scone," for the name of the town in which it resided.

It is clear that King Robert the Bruce was well aware of the stone's significance and from whence the people of Scotland came. In a letter, dated April 6, 1320, Robert the Brice wrote, in part: "...(T)he nation of the Scots has been distinguished by many honors; which passing from greater Scythia through the Mediterranean Sea and Pillars of Hercules (Gibraltar) and sojourning in Spain among the most savage tribes through a long course of time, could nowhere be subjugated by any people, however barbarous; and coming thence one thousand two hundred years after the outgoing of the People of Israel, they by many victories and infinite toil, acquired for themselves the possessions in the West which they now hold...In their kingdom, one hundred and thirteen kings of their own royal stock, no stranger intervening, have reigned..."

God said the hidden things of darkness would be revealed. It all makes me think we are fast approaching the end of an age.

Psalm 2:2 [Kings of the earth. How can people not believe in God, when He foresaw this eons ago?] I think the author is well-intentioned, but he is taken in by British- Israelism. Fascinating site, though.

The important thing to me seems to be for the people in this nation, ALL of us, to do what the children of Israel did, sing praises to the Lord, and ask Him to help us.