The Church of Express Advocacy

A WSJ article informs us that the “Internal Revenue Service is investigating the United Church of Christ, saying that the denomination may have threatened its tax-free status by allowing Sen. Barack Obama to speak before thousands of members at a church conference last June.”

Mr. Obama spoke mainly about his decision to join Trinity. A text of the speech posted on the UCC Web site also cited “the so-called leaders of the Christian Right, who’ve been all too eager to exploit what divides us. At every opportunity, they’ve told evangelical Christians that Democrats disrespect their values and dislike their Church, while suggesting to the rest of the country that religious Americans care only about issues like abortion and gay marriage; school prayer and intelligent design.”

A church official said the church did not consider Mr. Obama’s presence or words political.

The IRS offers some advice to charities and churches on this topic.

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