From our friends at AU. Here is a prime example of subjective use of federal tax dollars for religious purposes, without checks, balances, or any regulation of significance.
PASTOR OF CHURCH HOSTING ALITO RALLY RECEIVEDFINANCIAL SUPPORT FROM BUSH ADMINISTRATION Church-State Watchdog Group Notes That ?Justice Sunday III?Pastor Has Received $1 Million In ?Faith-Based? FundsPastor Herb Lusk, the Philadelphia preacher hosting the Religious Right-led ?Justice Sunday III? rally this weekend, has a long history of partisan activity on behalf of Republicans and has been awarded more than $1 million in ?faith-based? grants by the Bush administration, says Americans United for Separation of Church and State.The event at Greater Exodus Baptist Church, which will be broadcast nationwide, is intended to rally support for the confirmation of Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito Jr., President George W. Bush?s choice to replace Justice Sandra Day O?Connor.?I?m not at all surprised that Pastor Lusk would turn his pulpit over to the Religious Right for partisan purposes,? said the Rev. Barry W. Lynn, executive director of Americans United. ?Lusk long ago decided to play ball with the Bush administration in exchange for government grants.?
If this isn’t proof enough Alito shouldn’t be nominated, I don’t know what is.
If this isn’t proof enough that Bush should be impeached, I don’t know what is.
Oh wait, bypassing a rubber-stamp court so he can spy on the American people just might do it. Assholes.
impeach bush stop the alito nomination and remove the tax exempt status of theis church
But r4d, Bush was “called by god” to be president. How could he be doing anything wrong?
Wasn’t it a problem when so called liberal churches used their pulpits to talk politics?
Exactly. Liberal churches across the country are being threatened by the IRS while right wing megachurches across the south have practically become the ultimate government lobbying groups of the 21st century.
I mean, for f*ck’s sake, Tim Haggard has a direct line to the White House! (Or so he claims)
Delightful.
semi-off-topic:
More fundamentalist hypocrisy:
http://www.channeloklahoma.com/news/5845859/detail.html
Maybe the pastor was just trying to minister to the male prostitue and turn him straight. With oral sex.
r4d:
That’s just hysterical.
“I was set up.”
Yeah, by the DEVIL. What was that old running gag by Flip Wilson?
“The devil made me do it.”
He was ‘pastoring’.
More like pasteurizing, sounds like.
Hey, mebbe he only wanted to take it for a test drive?
Repressed tendencies, more like.
Maybe he thought if he understood what gay men felt during sex, he could help them better.
Or….he could just be a hypocrite.
“I was in the area pastoring to police.”
Shoudn’t pastoring only involve the insertion of the Holy Spirit…
thelemurgod:
The holy spit, is what it’s probably called. Laying on of hands, & whatever else the imagination conjures up as well, I’d guess.
Gives new meaning to the term, ‘transubstantiation’.
I’d better stop now. Giggles setting in.
Need sleep.
I can’t wait for that clown to be out of the White House.
“I can’t wait for that clown to be out of the White House.”
So another clown can take his place.
I’ve never heard of Lusk before, is he on the same channel as Robertson?
I’d like to hear what kind of info about Alito was passed to him by Rove. Like how pastors were told about Mier’s(sp?) religious background.
I used to feel that way back in the Clinton era, but this guy goes FAR beyond just being a ‘clown.’ This is despotism. This is the dismantling of democracy.
Luckily, the tide is turning.
As an accountant I’ve hated this loophole for awhile. The Fed gives a church money, the church doesn’t have to report income and then funnels some of the money right back to the candidate campaign. Very hard to trace and the church doesn’t pay taxes.
tx i knew there was somthing else i hate about churches in this country
TXATHEIST
I did not know you are an accountant ? I am an accountant here in NJ ? Good to see others in the field on here. Just wanted to point that out no real bloging on this for right now.
Tax money to churches? What a f*cked up system…
TX wrote:
never really thought about this before, but it’s the “perfect crime” if you think about it.
I’m not that familiar with tax rules; however, I know that churches don’t have to report income or pay taxes on that income…What a travesty.
What I didn’t know is that there is no accountability for how the tax dollars provided by the Fed are spent by the churches after they receive it. They supposedly receive these monies for services provided to the community at large, but cannot use the monies for religious instruction or proselytizing.
Isn’t there a least a requirement to identify how the Fed funds were used?
If not, I just might put in for Fed money for the Church of the FSM.
Это – только другая причина(разум) ненавидеть церкви и Христиан. Да я знаю, что я звучу строгим, но иногда я только ненавижу их. After reading this I just wonder, when will the infrastructure of our government finally collapse due to internal corruption?
-J?r?me
About the Russian, I’m just as confused as you guys are. I didn’t put Russian into my comment…I don’t speak a word of Russian…I have sucsessfully confused myself.
-J?r?me
J?r?me:
Dude, you’re the 1 sending me all those unreadable emails!
Do I need to type ‘Remove’ in Russian to get off your list, or what?
this was right around my area PHILLY and the NAACP were there protesting against his nomanation and had a petition that had over 1 million signatures to support them !!! I am glad everyone is signing it hopefully it will open some eyes up !!!
Oh well, foget the whole Russian thing happened, it probably wasn’t important and my computer has been really messed up. So just to say something on topic, I really don’t think Alito will be fair. One who expresses opposition to abortion will probably have a biased opinion. I doubt that the petition will open any eyes because since there is a Republican majority and Democrats are not threatening a Filibuster, he will almost surley be appointed.
-J?r?me