August 16, 2007

Abortion Battle/Religious Issues

Several months ago Pastor Holich's church in Wichtia, Kansas, received a letter from the IRS stating that they were going to investigate his church for poltical involvement.

One area of concern for the IRS was a changeable marquee that on one occasion mentioned both the governor of Kansas as well as George Tiller, a local abortion doctor.

They then asked the church to fill out a survey, part of which asked for information about the content of a sermon. After the survey was returned, the IRS followed up with a letter saying that they received the survey and that they wanted to proceed with an audit.

This is a blatant disregard for the First Amendment and shows that if a church communicates a biblical message that may be deemed as controversial, that church may come under the scrutiny of the Intenal Revenue Service.

Vic then read a story originating out of Geneva, Switzerland. The story dealt with a common code of conversion and conduct for religious conversions, agreed upon by Roman Catholics, Orthodox and mainline Protestant churches. The idea is to preserve the right for Christians to spread their religion while avoiding conflict.