| You see, when churches decide to turn themselves into de facto political committees, they flout America's campaign finance laws that are designed to keep the flow of political money transparent and limited in scope. While politically active churches may comply with the letter of the law, they definitely don't comply with the spirit. That gives them an unfair advantage.
If I were to donate to a political action committee or 527 group, for example, there are three major drawbacks compared with giving to a church. One, my donation would not be tax-deductible. Two, my money would be precisely tracked - and made public - because of campaign reporting requirements. And three, the law limits how much money I'm allowed to give.
Churches, though, don't have those limitations. When I give to a politically active church, I get a tax break. The money is also collected and spent in complete secrecy without any public tracking or accountability, and there's no limit to how much I can donate.
That's a little unfair, don't you think?
That's why whenever churches decide to play the political game - which I wish would never happen - they ought to at least abide by the same rules as everyone else. If they don't, they turn themselves into a money-laundering operation whereby contributions are made completely anonymously, then spent in unknown ways to influence public policy.
No matter where you stand on the issue of marriage freedom, it's wrong for any organization to flout America's already lax campaign finance rules by operating in darkness.
Let's hope the Mormon church sees the light. The church should either abide by the same restrictions as all political groups or - gasp! - let its members make up their own minds about which political issues to support.
---
* DEREK PRICE is a newspaper editor and lifelong Mormon living in Alabama. |
