Senator Charles Grassley of Iowa, a highly respected member of the Senate Finance Committee has been a strong advocate of conservative, heartland values. Unfortunately, some of his recent actions have done more to violate the true spirit of the ideal of the separation of church and state than anyone in recent memory.

Senator Grassley has made a demand for the financial records of a number of very prominent evangelical, conservative broadcast ministries. Television ministries can be easy political targets because they are so prominent and unpopular in some circles. Concerned these ministries are not spending their contributions properly, Grassley admits his concerns were in part driven by media accounts.

Most of the ministries have complied with Grassley's very intrusive requests. A few groups are resisting based upon their concern that this is an abuse of power. The threat of subpoenas has been  raised  by Grassley if the ministries do not comply. The consequences for all religious organizations are enormous.

This begs the questions, "Do we really want politicians deciding ministry budgets?" The Founding Fathers rightly said, "No."

According to the First Amendment to the US Constitution... "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof..." The Founders wisely denied Congress the power to prohibit the free exercise of religion.

The government is simply not competent to legislate in matters of faith. How a ministry spends its money is a matter of their religious convictions and priorities. Accountability exists between the ministry and their donors, not the government. If donors disagree with the way a ministry spends their money, they simply do not support it.

The government should not have the authority to subject ministries to intrusive investigations just because of one Senator's concern about how they spend their money. There is already oversight of non-profit ministries by the Internal Revenue Service.

Because of concerns about politically motivated attacks against ministries by the IRS, in 1984 Congress passed the Church Audit Procedures Act. The Act prevents the IRS from launching a tax inquiry against a ministry unless a "high level Treasury official" reasonably believes there to be sufficient grounds. Confidentiality is also supposed to be maintained to protect the ministry in question.

Senator Grassley has acted in violation of the spirit of the Act. The fact that his demand letter was made public was an abuse of office and has besmirched the reputations of these ministries. Now the ministries feel pressured to comply with this abusive request in order to prove themselves "innocent." The letter is tantamount to blackmail.

It is very troubling to think that a single elected official can intrude into the inner workings of religious organizations the way Senator Grassley has. It reminds us that all our God-given rights must be constantly defended, especially against those who mistakenly think they are doing good.

While we may disagree with other's religious doctrine, practices and budgets, we must defend their right to freely exercise their religion and spend their money any way they see fit. This is not altruism. If a government official can abuse these ministries at will, then they can certainly abuse others.

As usual, the Founders had it right, again. The government has no business in limiting the free exercise of religion.

ACTION ITEM
Call Senators Grassley and Buakus of the Senate Finance Committee listed below and respectfully ask them to drop the investigation into the six ministries.

Chuck Grassley, IA
Call: (202) 224-3744
Contact Online: Click Here

Max Baucus, MT
Call: (202) 224-2651
Contact Online: Click Here