The Tax Man Cometh

I didn't have to look far this morning to find some good news. It was right there on the front page of the Columbus Dispatch. Over thirty local religious figures have filed a complaint to have the tax exempt status of World Harvest Church and Fairfield Christian Church revoked for violating the 52 year old IRS ban of churches participating in politics.

These guys apparently did a lot of research before filing, including hiring DC tax attorney Marcus Owens to help with drafting the complaint. From the Dispatch:

John Green, a University of Akron authority on religion and politics, said the complaint is extraordinary because it was filed by pastors rather than watchdog groups that routinely monitor church and state issues.

"This complaint is detailed and complex enough that I think the IRS is going to say, ‘We better look into this,’ " said Green, author of Religion and the Culture Wars.

Whether or not anything comes of this, it had to be done. These guys have been stepping way over the line for a long time, and now hopefully, Big Box Jesus is either going to have to shut up or put up, taxes that is.