Silencing the shepherds.

The Sunday prior to the 2004 presidential election, Rev. George F. Regas of Pasadena's All Saints Episcopal Church preached a sermon denouncing the Bush administration's doctrine of "preemptive war." While it was clear to even the casual listener that Rev. Regas would have preferred to see Mr. Bush lose his campaign for reelection, he pointedly stated that "good people of profound faith" could vote for either the incumbent or the Democratic challenger, Senator John Kerry. (That little of substance separated the two major party candidates was not mentioned, and perhaps was not understood, by Rev. Regas.)

Despite the fact that the sermon was not a partisan political address, the Internal Revenue Service has threatened to revoke the church's tax-exempt status. All Saints is reputed to be a very activist liberal congregation. Its tax attorney, a former IRS official, told the Los Angeles Times that it is "ludicrous to suggest that a pastor cannot preach about the value of promoting peace simply because the nation happens to be at war during an election season."

The IRS, working through a network of informants, has collected information used to threaten similarly ludicrous acts of persecution against conservative congregations. Thus "conservative churches may be forgiven for feeling a bit of schadenfreude" over the plight of All Saints, comments Charles C. Haynes of the First Amendment Center. "Many evangelicals have been complaining for years that IRS regulations muzzle free speech of clergy from the pulpit. Now that people on the left are stirred up by the IRS threat against All Saints, people on the right are hoping to find common cause in challenging the IRS."

"With spies slipping into pews--and more than 60 nonprofits currently under investigation (according to the IRS)--is it time to change the rules?" Haynes continues. "Rep. Walter B. Jones, R-N.C., certainly thinks so. His Houses of Worship Free Speech Restoration Act would amend the IRS code to allow endorsements of political candidates from the pulpit. The bill would only affect speech during worship services or gatherings, leaving in place the ban on participation in campaign activity for or against political candidates."

This would actually enhance the power of the IRS while impermissibly asserting congressional power to regulate both freedom of speech and freedom of religion, in defiance of the First Amendment's unambiguous prohibition of exactly that kind of legislation. Congress cannot "restore" freedom of speech or worship by determining under what circumstances it can be "allowed" or "banned." The correct approach would be to enact legislation forbidding the IRS to scrutinize churches, as a prelude to abolishing that agency altogether.