Matt Staver Warns Pastors, Silence is Not an Option
wilkyjr printable version print page     Bookmark and Share
Mon Jun 30, 2014 at 04:05:32 PM EST
Liberty Universities' Matt Staver, apparent new spokesman for Jerry Falwell's University, mailed out a DVD to encourage "pastors & patriots."  Matt is head of Liberty U.'s legal arm known as Liberty Counsel.  The late Jerry Falwell boasted he never went anywhere without a group of lawyers near him.  The school's social activism, once dominated by a monthly magazine, now centers on the Liberty school of law
     Matt's DVD begins with the message we need to "restore the rule of law."  This will happen when true patriot pastors take up anew what the founding pastors of the nation did.  That is engage directly in political activity.  
     The lawyer defines churches as different from other nonprofits which means they do not fit the profile of legal opinion we have always believed.  The 1992 Pierce Creek Church is a splendid example according to Matt.  This church did not actually lose its tax exemption.  In legal vernacular, Staver gave his interpretation of this law.  He says each day is a new day and the church can cease from doing unlawful things and be innocent on the next day.  In lawyer speak this means if I break the law today, tomorrow is a new beginning and I am free from consequences.
     Matt delivers the old well worn reminders about what pastors can do.  Legal sources have spoken the same advice for decades regarding what he reveals as his new insights.  He says you can pass out voter guides and pastors have a personal right to engage in political activity.  Nothing new in this assessment.
     Next Matt breaks out some new legal advice.  He says a pastor can use his church stationary, take out an ad in a local paper listing his position as pastor of said church and endorse a candidate.  Matt even advises pastors can announce from the pulpit who he is going to vote for and this is just fine as far as the IRS code is concerned.  Other sources are not so accommodating to this legal view held by Matt.
     Matt claims you can invite a candidate to preach at your church and this is acceptable.  The only drawback is that the "preacher" cannot tell folks to vote for him.  Matt leaves out the legal advice that if one candidate is invited then the other side must be given the same opportunity.  If all this sounds shady and skirting the law, at least it is not as bad as Matt's friends who claim we need to not pay attention to these IRS laws anyway.  
     The lawyer warns pastors that the ACLU and American United for Separation of Church and State are trying to intimidate and silence pastors.   He ends with the question, "Why are we intimidated?"
     The Liberty professor wants local churches to try these things out.  If they are taken to court Liberty Counsel will be glad to represent the congregation.  Liberty Counsel brags that it works for free.  But you can bet that the publicity of defending a church in court will bring donations to Matt's school.  Matt appears to be competing with Jay Sekulow for who is the most famous legal network for the Religious Right to solicit.  



Display:
So if the church tells its members to vote for X or go to hell, 51 Sundays a year, and on the 52nd Sunday doesn't mention the candidate or party by name, the IRS is going to pass on revoking the church's 501c3 because at some point in that year the church obeyed the rules? Kewwwl. Next up: Internet "churches" that organize political volunteers and send out voting messages to your cell phone - and don't get counted in the tax rolls or in the few campaign finance regulations left.

And people wonder why the label "Christian" has become associated with pastors and laypeople with self-serving morals on an ego and power trip. Some of these pastors are "reverse evangelicals", driving away potential members who have any common sense.  You can count on some churches to convert some people to anticlericalism. Ever was it thus.

by NancyP on Tue Jul 01, 2014 at 07:09:04 PM EST


Nancy, in legal speak, now tied to right wing clergy, there are new ways to go around the law.

by wilkyjr on Wed Jul 02, 2014 at 09:34:49 AM EST


WWW Talk To Action


Cognitive Dissonance & Dominionism Denial
There is new research on why people are averse to hearing or learning about the views of ideological opponents. Based on evaluation of five......
By Frederick Clarkson (374 comments)
Will the Air Force Do Anything To Rein In Its Dynamic Duo of Gay-Bashing, Misogynistic Bloggers?
"I always get nervous when I see female pastors/chaplains. Here is why everyone should as well: "First, women are not called to be pastors,......
By Chris Rodda (195 comments)
The Legacy of Big Oil
The media is ablaze with the upcoming publication of David Grann's book, Killers of the Flower Moon. The shocking non fiction account of the......
By wilkyjr (110 comments)
Gimme That Old Time Dominionism Denial
Over the years, I have written a great deal here and in other venues about the explicitly theocratic movement called dominionism -- which has......
By Frederick Clarkson (101 comments)
History Advisor to Members of Congress Completely Twists Jefferson's Words to Support Muslim Ban
Pseudo-historian David Barton, best known for his misquoting of our country's founders to promote the notion that America was founded as a Christian nation,......
By Chris Rodda (113 comments)
"Christian Fighter Pilot" Calls First Lesbian Air Force Academy Commandant a Liar
In a new post on his "Christian Fighter Pilot" blog titled "BGen Kristin Goodwin and the USAFA Honor Code," Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Jonathan......
By Chris Rodda (144 comments)
Catholic Right Leader Unapologetic about Call for 'Death to Liberal Professors' -- UPDATED
Today, Donald Trump appointed C-FAM Executive Vice President Lisa Correnti to the US Delegation To UN Commission On Status Of Women. (C-FAM is a......
By Frederick Clarkson (126 comments)
Controlling Information
     Yesterday I listened to Russ Limbaugh.  Rush advised listeners it would be best that they not listen to CNN,MSNBC, ABC, CBS and......
By wilkyjr (118 comments)
Is Bannon Fifth-Columning the Pope?
In December 2016 I wrote about how White House chief strategist Steve Bannon, who likes to flash his Catholic credentials when it comes to......
By Frank Cocozzelli (250 comments)
Ross Douthat's Hackery on the Seemingly Incongruous Alliance of Bannon & Burke
Conservative Catholic writer Ross Douthat has dissembled again. This time, in a February 15, 2017 New York Times op-ed titled The Trump Era's Catholic......
By Frank Cocozzelli (64 comments)
`So-Called Patriots' Attack The Rule Of Law
Every so often, right-wing commentator Pat Buchanan lurches out of the far-right fever swamp where he has resided for the past 50 years to......
By Rob Boston (161 comments)
Bad Faith from Focus on the Family
Here is one from the archives, Feb 12, 2011, that serves as a reminder of how deeply disingenuous people can be. Appeals to seek......
By Frederick Clarkson (176 comments)
The Legacy of George Wallace
"One need not accept any of those views to agree that they had appealed to real concerns of real people, not to mindless, unreasoning......
By wilkyjr (70 comments)
Betsy DeVos's Mudsill View of Public Education
My Talk to Action colleague Rachel Tabachnick has been doing yeoman's work in explaining Betsy DeVos's long-term strategy for decimating universal public education. If......
By Frank Cocozzelli (80 comments)
Prince and DeVos Families at Intersection of Radical Free Market Privatizers and Religious Right
This post from 2011 surfaces important information about President-Elect Trump's nominee for Secretary of Education, Betsy DeVos. -- FC Erik Prince, Brother of Betsy......
By Rachel Tabachnick (218 comments)

Respect for Others? or Political Correctness?
The term "political correctness" as used by Conservatives and Republicans has often puzzled me: what exactly do they mean by it? After reading Chip Berlin's piece here-- http://www.talk2action.org/story/2016/7/21/04356/9417 I thought about what he explained......
MTOLincoln (253 comments)
Fear
What I'm feeling now is fear.  I swear that it seems my nightmares are coming true with this new "president".  I'm also frustrated because so many people are not connecting all the dots! I've......
ArchaeoBob (107 comments)
"America - love it or LEAVE!"
I've been hearing that and similar sentiments fairly frequently in the last few days - far FAR more often than ever before.  Hearing about "consequences for burning the flag (actions) from Trump is chilling!......
ArchaeoBob (211 comments)
"Faked!" Meme
Keep your eyes and ears open for a possible move to try to discredit the people openly opposing Trump and the bigots, especially people who have experienced terrorism from the "Right"  (Christian Terrorism is......
ArchaeoBob (165 comments)
More aggressive proselytizing
My wife told me today of an experience she had this last week, where she was proselytized by a McDonald's employee while in the store. ......
ArchaeoBob (163 comments)
See if you recognize names on this list
This comes from the local newspaper, which was conservative before and took a hard right turn after it was sold. Hint: Sarah Palin's name is on it!  (It's also connected to Trump.) ......
ArchaeoBob (169 comments)
Unions: A Labor Day Discussion
This is a revision of an article which I posted on my personal board and also on Dailykos. I had an interesting discussion on a discussion board concerning Unions. I tried to piece it......
Xulon (156 comments)
Extremely obnoxious protesters at WitchsFest NYC: connected to NAR?
In July of this year, some extremely loud, obnoxious Christian-identified protesters showed up at WitchsFest, an annual Pagan street fair here in NYC.  Here's an account of the protest by Pagan writer Heather Greene......
Diane Vera (130 comments)
Capitalism and the Attack on the Imago Dei
I joined this site today, having been linked here by Crooksandliars' Blog Roundup. I thought I'd put up something I put up previously on my Wordpress blog and also at the DailyKos. As will......
Xulon (330 comments)
History of attitudes towards poverty and the churches.
Jesus is said to have stated that "The Poor will always be with you" and some Christians have used that to refuse to try to help the poor, because "they will always be with......
ArchaeoBob (148 comments)
Alternate economy medical treatment
Dogemperor wrote several times about the alternate economy structure that dominionists have built.  Well, it's actually made the news.  Pretty good article, although it doesn't get into how bad people could be (have been)......
ArchaeoBob (90 comments)
Evidence violence is more common than believed
Think I've been making things up about experiencing Christian Terrorism or exaggerating, or that it was an isolated incident?  I suggest you read this article (linked below in body), which is about our great......
ArchaeoBob (214 comments)

More Diaries...




All trademarks and copyrights on this page are owned by their respective companies. Comments, posts, stories, and all other content are owned by the authors. Everything else © 2005 Talk to Action, LLC.