Random Politics & Religion #00

NSA back in action

I re-activated FF14 and am playing HW today, I hope they aren't in league with SE and spying on me.

NSA back in action

I re-activated FF14 and am playing HW today, I hope they aren't in league with SE and spying on me.

I'm okay with any history as long as its told how it really was. "Us good, them bad, we won" never sat well with me in school.

NSA back in action

I re-activated FF14 and am playing HW today, I hope they aren't in league with SE and spying on me.

Churches are already restricted in some of their actions in order to maintain tax-exempt status.

They have to follow restrictions put in place by congress.

Not really.

A handful of radical right wing preachers announced they were going to preach the gospel of voting Republican from their pulpits in 2012.

They did.

The IRS took no action.

Groovy. Can we move on now?

Vomit.

"All we want is legal legitimacy. We aren't asking anybody for anything else. We just want to give our marriage and our family the legitimacy that it deserves,"

Montana Polygamist family files for marriage licence.

The direction this conversation is taking is...

Let's be real, if a church doesn't want to rent the site they wont. If the gay couple wants a preacher but said preacher refuses then they'll just pay an officiant to dress like one. If said couple is hard pressed for a cathedral's aesthetic; it wouldn't be hard to recreate...

The direction this conversation is taking is...

Let's be real, if a church doesn't want to rent the site they wont. If the gay couple wants a preacher but said preacher refuses then they'll just pay an officiant to dress like one. If said couple is hard pressed for a cathedral's aesthetic; it wouldn't be hard to recreate...

That sounds like it'll happen, I mean that's what happens when they want cakes and flowers too right?.

Then they will get cakes and flowers. I wonder how many gay weddings have taken place since the ruling? Thousands I would assume. The fear mongerers remain wrong.

It sure seems like you have a lot more motivating you than religious freedom. Every post is just dripping with contempt for gays.

Its a non-issue. Churches refuse weddings all the time for all kinds of reasons. Just move on to the next church and ignore the fear mongers.

Well, I guess we'll see how England handles the issue. Could be interesting.

How much to get the The General Lee a new paint job?

That question might be on the mind of Dukes of Hazzard fans after TV Land yanked twice-daily reruns of the show earlier this week due to controversy over the Confederate flag emblazoned on the roof of the 1969 Dodge Charger driven by its central characters, Bo and Luke Duke.

The move follows a decision by Warner Bros. to cease any Dukes merchandising deals involving the Confederate flag — a racially charged banner that’s come under renewed scrutiny following white supremacist Dylann Roof’s murder of nine members of a historically black Charleston, S.C. church last month.

“Warner Bros. Consumer Products has one licensee producing die-cast replicas and vehicle model kits featuring the General Lee with the Confederate flag on its roof,” the company noted in a release. “We have elected to cease the licensing of these product categories.”

Not really.

A handful of radical right wing preachers announced they were going to preach the gospel of voting Republican from their pulpits in 2012.

They did.

The IRS took no action.

Home › Legal › Legal Challenges › Ongoing Lawsuits › Highlighted Court Victories › Victory: FFRF, IRS settle suit over church politicking
Victory: FFRF, IRS settle suit over church politicking

The Freedom From Religion Foundation sued the Internal Revenue Service for failing to enforce electioneering restrictions against churches and religious organizations, calling it a violation of the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment and of FFRF’s equal protection rights. FFRF filed the lawsuit Nov. 14, 2012, in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin. At the time of our suit, the IRS had not publicly announced any church audits since 2009, when a federal court in Minnesota ruled that an IRS official who had authorized a church audit was not of sufficient rank. After a restructuring in 1998, the IRS had not designated officials who could institute audits under the Church Audit Procedures Act of 1984.

The lawsuit, FFRF v. Koskinen, (12-cv-818), was filed by attorney Richard L. Bolton (originally FFRF v. Schulman). FFRF sought to enjoin IRS Commissioner John Koskinen (originally filed against former Commissioner Douglas Shulman from continuing “a policy of non-enforcement of the electioneering restrictions against churches and religious organizations.” Additionally, FFRF seeks to order Koskinen “to authorize a high-ranking official within the IRS to approve and initiate enforcement of the restrictions of §501(c)(3) against churches and religious organizations, including the electioneering restrictions, as required by law.”

At the time of the filing, FFRF had more than 19,000 members nationwide “who are opposed to government preferences and favoritism toward religion.” This non-enforcement “constitutes preferential treatment to churches and religious organizations that is not provided to other tax-exempt organizations, including FFRF,” the complaint notes. “Churches and religious organizations obtain a significant benefit as a result of being non-exempt from income taxation, while also being able to preferentially engage in electioneering, which is something secular tax-exempt organizations cannot do.” This preferential tax exemption involves more than $100 billion annually in tax-free contributions to churches and religious organizations in the United States.

FFRF reached an agreement with the IRS in July 2014 that resolves, for the time being, the issues in FFRF’s federal challenge. Specifically, FFRF was informed that since 2010, the IRS has flagged churches involved with political intervention, including churches that submitted materials as part of “Pulpit Freedom Sunday.” FFRF was also informed that an IRS review committee determined that 99 churches were marked for “high priority examination.” The IRS could take enforcement action against some of those churches, which were marked for potential illegal political intervention between 2010-13. Since the IRS demonstrated it does not have a blanket policy or practice of non-enforcement of political activity restrictions, the parties moved for a joint dismissal of the case.

On August 1, 2014, U.S. District Judge Lynn S. Adelman issued an order granting the joint motion for dismissal between FFRF and the IRS. Adelman’s decision and order agreed that FFRF may voluntarily dismiss its lawsuit “without prejudice,” meaning FFRF can renew the lawsuit if the IRS reverts to its previous inaction.

And so the dominoes continue to fall:
Dukes of Hazzard Dropped by TV Land

A bigot through and through, I doubt anyone is surprised.

I had somebody at work explain it to me. If we teach the bad, we are raising kids to be unamerican. The only way to make people true patriots is to teach them only the good (and force them to play football. Its the only true american sport you know). Its the evil liberal school teachers who are out to destroy the country by daring to teach the facts to impressionable young kids, when Rah-Rah 'Murica bias would be much better.