everyday life & health
"Justice Sunday" Finds No Audience in Houston
By Scott O. Shaffer
Apr 28, 2005, 18:37

“Justice Sunday” flopped in Houston churches on April 24.

In fact, none of the 3,400 churches and synagogues in the heart of "Bush Country" broadcast the Christian conservatives' program despite saturation coverage by the major national news outlets stating the contrary.

The Family Research Council (FRC) together with Focus on the Family Action (FFA) organized the event to encourage Christians nationwide to force an up or down vote on stalled conservative judicial nominees of President Bush.

Both groups favor nominees who would most likely overturn Roe vs. Wade, limit the rights of homosexuals and adhere to the biblical definition of marriage.

The added promise of an appearance by Senate majority leader, Bill Frist, R-Tenn., was not enough to generate interest in the program.

J.P. Duffy, media coordinator for the FRC, confirmed that “Justice Sunday” was not broadcast in any Houston-area church. Duffy suggested that churches would have participated if they had more time to prepare and advertise.

Spokespersons for Lakewood Church, First Baptist, First Methodist, Palmer Episcopal, Second Baptist, Brentwood Baptist, Pleasant Grove Missionary Baptist, the Fellowship of the Woodlands, St. Anne’s Catholic Church and Congregation Beth Israel confirmed that they had not broadcast “Justice Sunday” to their more than 150,000 members. Most said that they had not heard about the event.

Don Iloff, spokesperson for Lakewood Church suggested several reasons for the lack of local interest. Iloff said that possibly some churches had been concerned about IRS regulations, others may have been interested in broadcasting the event but not had enough time to prepare and some may simply have not known about “Justice Sunday.”

Northway Baptist Church in Angleton and League City’s Rock of Christ Church were advertised in mid-April by the FRC as local broadcast sites. However, as the event approached, both churches were eliminated from their website listing and no new churches were added.

This occurred despite the best efforts of some religious activist groups.

Gary S. McCaleb, senior legal counsel with the conservative religious Alliance Defense Fund, assured churches considering broadcasting “Justice Sunday” that they would not lose their tax-exempt status.

“By this letter, we assure you that churches and Christians may lawfully exercise their fundamental First Amendment rights to urge their senators to properly discharge their duties,” McCaleb wrote.

According to Internal Revenue Service, the regulations say otherwise:

“A church or religious organization will be regarded as attempting to influence legislation if it contacts, or urges the public to contact, members or employees of a legislative body for the purpose of proposing, supporting, or opposing legislation, or if the organization advocates the adoption or rejection of legislation.”

Legislation is defined by the IRS as including confirmation of appointive offices by Congress. Furthermore, the IRS states that churches risk the loss of their tax-exempt status if “a substantial part of its activities is attempting to influence legislation (commonly known as lobbying).”

McCaleb argues that IRS regulations do not apply.

“Indeed, simply calling on senators to discharge their constitutional duty is a moral obligation that is not properly regulated by either election law or the federal tax code,” McCaleb wrote.

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