WWJS

WWJS. That's "What would Jesus say?" It provides the basic premise of a sermon preached by the Rev. Dr. George F. Regas, Rector Emeritus at All Saints (Episcopal) Church in Pasadena, California on October 31, 2004. The title of his sermon was "If Jesus Debated Senator Kerry and President Bush." In his sermon, Jesus gets to do all the talking, as would seem appropriate in a church (but which seems to happen on a surprisingly infrequent basis). Reminds me of the lyrics from a John Prine song about Jesus:

He spoke to me of morality, starvation, pain and sin.
Matter of fact, the whole dang time, I only got a few words in.
But I won't squawk, let 'im talk, heck it's been a long long time.
And any friend who's been turned down, is bound to be a friend of mine.

But back to our story...This sermon, later referred to in an article in the Los Angeles Times as a "searing indictment" of Bush administration policies, prompted a letter from the IRS threatening to pull the church's tax-exempt status. Apparently, they asked for an apology and a promise that such activity ("which may constitute intervention in a political campaign") would stop.

The church did not choose to take that route. In a reply to the IRS, their attorney wrote, in part: "The congregation has asked me to assure you that it has a longstanding policy against campaign intervention and will continue to maintain its non-partisan stance. However, it also takes pride in a long history of active involvement in the community and a steadfast and theologically-based commitment to alleviating poverty and promoting equality, social justice and peace." That, of course, is the tightrope that all churches find themselves walking. But the sermon (and it is available online) simply offers Revas' understanding of Jesus' teachings, supported with the words of Jesus as recorded in the New Testament, and encourages those listening to think about the values these words represent when they vote.

The absurdity of the over-reaction by the IRS is aptly exposed elsewhere in the letter: "It seems ludicrous to suggest that a pastor cannot preach about the value of promoting peace simply because the nation happens to be at war during an election season." Indeed it does.

And another passage: "The Church does not believe the law requires it to preview or edit every guest's remarks -- much less mandate that a preacher's sermons may not discuss moral values during the congregation's time of worship." That was particularly nice wording. This is a gathering of a religious community to worship, after all...have the decency to leave your moral values at the door.

A more recent letter from the church questions the substance of the IRS "reasonable belief" that this sermon amounted to "campaign intervention," and includes many examples of cases that the IRS dropped that were far more substantial. It points out that in this particular case, the sermon itself is never quoted in the IRS letters, only the LA Times article that was written about it.

So here's my new bumper sticker: WWJDKIMTIRCROTPAORO. What Would Jesus Do Keeping In Mind The Internal Revenue Code Restrictions On The Political Activity Of Religious Organizations? Yes, you'll have to devote your whole bumper to this one. And those tiny little hybrids may just be out of luck. But it's a question worth considering, and one that doesn't seem to be going away any time soon.