Kim, were you invited?

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-24-2003
Kim, were you invited?
16
Mon, 10-04-2004 - 6:08pm
Falwell Holds Gay Marriage Summit

by 365Gay.com Newscenter Staff


Posted: October 4, 2004 11:01 am ET

(Lynchburg, Virginia) Evangelical Christian ministers crowded into the Rev. Jerry Falwell's new law school for a pep talk on how to preach conservative politics without running afoul of the law.

Bristling with frustration, several raised their hands when asked if they had received letters from Americans United for Separation of Church and State warning that giving biased information about political candidates could jeopardize their tax-exempt status as nonprofit organizations.

"The Constitution doesn't say anything about the separation of church and state, so how can the government deny us our right to practice our freedom of expression?" asked Don Cherry, senior pastor of a nondenominational church in Hedgesville, W.Va.

Jerry Falwell Jr., Falwell's son and a lawyer for the ministry, said that despite the letters, churches were actually allowed to hand out candidate biographies and voter-registration packets.

What they should not do, he said, was endorse a candidate in church. The tax code forbids it, though he hopes the Supreme Court will eventually change the law.

"That's why this election is so important," he said. "Three or four justices are going to be appointed in the next four years."

Another ministry lawyer, Mathew Staver, who is involved in law suits across the country opposing same-sex marriage, said churches could also legally spend 5 percent of their time lobbying for or against various legislation. That is a lot of time, he said, considering the number of hours pastors and staff spend each year just keeping the church going.

"If you wanted to, you could essentially turn the church into a political machine on Sunday," said Staver who is the president and general counsel of the Liberty Counsel.

With five weeks until the presidential election, the elder Falwell said he is trying to muster conservative evangelical ministers to support the Republican ticket. He is planning similar workshops in Florida, Missouri, Ohio, Wisconsin and other battleground states.

"We intend this year to put an end to the intimidation," Falwell said in an interview. Ministers "think they're going to be put in jail if they speak out."

Falwell, a favorite target of Americans United, was himself accused of breaking the law this summer when he wrote a letter urging followers to re-elect President Bush. (story)

"Jerry Falwell is, I think, the worst possible person to give advice about the tax code," said Barry Lynn, a Christian minister who runs Americans United.

He said the letters were meant to clarify the law for church leaders.

Falwell's "Old Time Gospel Hour" television ministry in 1993 paid $50,000 in back taxes for improper political activity in 1986 and 1987.

A four-year IRS probe determined that the weekly broadcast ministry of Falwell's Thomas Road Baptist Church raised money for political purposes. Falwell agreed to pay the penalty as a condition of getting his religious tax exemption restored.

Lynn agrees that ministers can engage in political activity - as long as they do not endorse anyone in particular. They cannot even distribute candidate biographies if they are written in a way that makes one look more righteous than another.

"Your intent does matter," Lynn said. "And I think that when Jerry Falwell both tells people to vote for Bush and then helps them find a way to donate money, that is willful and intentional endorsement of a candidate."

The workshops yesterday were part of a three-day "Super Conference" that Falwell holds each year for Christian ministers. An estimated 2,000 came from around the country to learn strategies for expanding church membership and how to better communicate with their congregations.

But in an election year, pastors said it has been impossible to discuss abortion, gay marriage and other moral issues without talking politics.

"There is a lot of confusion about what we can say," said Brian Moss, senior pastor of Oak Ridge Baptist Church in Salisbury, Md. "We've been browbeaten by this notion of separation of church and state."

http://www.365gay.com/newscon04/10/100404falwell.htm

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iVillage Member
Registered: 12-16-2003
Mon, 10-04-2004 - 7:47pm

My invitation must have gotten lost in the mail.

Kim
Check out my

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-19-2003
Mon, 10-04-2004 - 9:02pm

Raye!

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-24-2003
Mon, 10-04-2004 - 9:31pm
Yeah, we were all invited... the man makes me goofy. How can one say they are a minister, yet preach hatred?

Haven't been around, and hope y'all are well. I'm still feeling the affects of last weeks events, but the good news is I start work Monday.

iVillage Member
Registered: 02-15-2004
Mon, 10-04-2004 - 9:36pm
Nelle, congrats on the job! Good for you, are you excited about this particular job, or did you just take one to have one? hugs, Sandra

Sandr

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-19-2003
Mon, 10-04-2004 - 9:45pm

(((((((Raye)))))))

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-24-2003
Mon, 10-04-2004 - 9:59pm
Thanks!

It isn't the one I wished to have, though that is still open. If they offer it to me in the next couple of days, I'd have to go that route, because of the fact it is in a field I wish to be in, is full time, and has benefits... including paying for me to get back in school. This is part time, 25 hours a week working 1:30 - 7 PM, no benefits, for the state of NH. I'll be a certifying officer for those unemployed. It could become full time, and that would be nice, though it isn't in a field I wish to be in long term. I need to work, and took the exam for this a few weeks back. Funny thing today, I called her today, and she had just tried calling me, only to find the line busy... because of calling her. At least some self esteem comes back with it... it was a lonnnnnnnnnnnnng fall, and now I start climbing out.

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-24-2003
Mon, 10-04-2004 - 10:07pm
Thanks... I'm not going to push, I'm going to do (as in take care of what needs to be taken care of) and we'll let things sort themselves out.

Is funny... I'd not talked to kowski in months, there had been some unspoken issues that upset us both. We both can be intense and emotional, and over the last several months I've not been very forthcoming about my life, and tend to clam up, except for occasional board play... it is embarrassing to have it all fall apart like this. I've lost my partner, my family, our critters, our home, my business... in a rather ugly fall. Anyway, I'd thought our friendship was lost.

Last night just before bedtime, kowski popped on messenger and we had a really nice chat. This is a person that means so much to me (and her daughter is getting sooooooooo big!) as does her partner, so it was like the winds changed direction. And then a job.

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-19-2003
Mon, 10-04-2004 - 10:16pm

How cool is that?

iVillage Member
Registered: 10-01-2003
Wed, 10-06-2004 - 4:03am

rayellen,


I can't tell you how happy I am to read that things are starting to improve for you. Even though it's not in your chosen field, this part time job is going to work well for you in at least two ways; first, they say it's easier to land a job if you're already employed and, second, it's only part-time so you'll still have time to look for your dream job!


I'm also pleased you and kowski had a chance to chat. I remember how close you were, you and the bunch over at Friends & Family, I think it was. We need those kinds of good friends in our lives.


 

iVillage Member
Registered: 10-08-2003
Wed, 10-06-2004 - 8:20am

I think its only right that we show up at his house and apologize for not making it. We can explain that our invitations got lost in the mail. I'd hate for him to think us rude for just not showing up, or even calling.


>snicker<


~C

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