Bill Keller is at it again. The man who claimed “A vote for Romney is a vote for Satan” has now declared that Obama is “God’s Enemy” (as shown on his web site).
You can watch his “analysis” of Obama here:
It’s long – over 8 minutes – so be prepared.
So why should you care about any of this?
I’ll tell you.
You and I subsidize this nonsense.
Yep, Keller’s website, liveprayer.com, is a public charity. It’s part of Bill Keller Ministries, a 501(c)(3) organization. And one would assume that as a 501(c)(3) organization, Bill Keller Ministries knows the rules. And one would also assume that as a self-professed Christian, he would honor those rules. But he clearly doesn’t.
According to the regs, 501(c)(3) organizations are specifically prohibited from making statements for or against political candidates. You can read more about what is and is not allowed here.
And yet, Keller feels that these rules simply don’t apply to him. He is currently under investigation by the IRS for his statements about Mitt Romney, including:
*ROMNEY GETTING ELECTED PRESIDENT WILL ULTIMATELY LEAD MILLIONS OF SOULS TO THE ETERNAL FLAMES OF HELL!!!
Keller claims that he is allowed to say and do as he pleases because it’s both God’s calling and free speech.
Funny, I was raised in a Christian home and the tenets of faith as taught to me include love, patience, tolerance and understanding. I don’t remember the part of the Bible wherein Jesus says, “Attack thy neighbors.” I’m pretty sure that it went something like this:
Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.Matthew 22:36-40
The kind of hate filled speech that comes from the Keller camp doesn’t sound very Christian to me – ironic, since this go round he accuses Obama of not acting very Christian.
On the free speech front, Keller and those who support him claim that the idea of free speech absolves Keller from his comments about candidates. It does not.
Free speech is not absolute. There are limits. You cannot yell “Fire!” in a crowded theatre. You cannot spread lies about another person.
And, as with many other rules and regulations, there are limitations on your speech depending upon what category you fall into… In this case, Bill Keller’s organization made the conscious decision to “opt in” to IRS tax-exempt status. This status grants certain benefits, such as not being subject to federal tax on profits and allowing donors the benefit of a tax deduction for making a contribution to the organization. In exchange, the organization agreed to follow the rules. And the rules say no active politicking. It’s quite simple.
There are political activities that 501(c)(3) organizations can engage in without jeopardizing their exempt status. Organizations are allowed, for example, to take a stand on particular issues or legislation (i.e. abortion, the environment) and providing education on those issues. Organizations cannot, however, publicly endorse, oppose or contribute to a particular candidate. To be clear, the IRS does not require that the organization actually use the words “Don’t vote for…” to violate the standards.
The courts have upheld this the authority of the IRS to revoke status for tax-exempt organizations that engage in prohibited campaign activities. The case that is pointed to the most is Branch Ministries v. Rossotti, 211 F.3d 137 (D.C. Cir. 2000), where the court wrote:
The government has a compelling interest in maintaining the integrity of the tax system and in not subsidizing partisan political activity, and Section 501(c)(3) is the least restrictive means of accomplishing that purpose.
Let’s think about this for a moment. Donations to candidates are restricted by Campaign Finance law. If we allow tax exempt organizations – which do not have such limitations – to effectively as agents for or against candidates, what will that do to our political process? Any organization – from Greenpeace to Bill Keller Ministries – could then effectively circumvent campaign laws to tout their favorite candidates at taxpayer expense.
That last bit is particularly important. Remember, as taxpayers, we subsidize tax exempt organizations…
My personal bottom line: I don’t care what Bill Keller has to say about the GOP, the Dems, Romney or Obama. Just don’t do it on my dime.
I totally agree with Keller.. Obama does not know what he is talking about.. He is such a joke…
This is the thing: it’s okay for you to say that in this context. That’s free speech!
The difference is that you’re not acting on behalf of a tax-exempt organization. That is the problem with Keller’s actions and statements.
Not completely sure Obama is for the truth or just filling a seat? His election campaign is only for his net worth leaving the American citizens 3rd or 4th on democratic Obama priorities.
BILL KELLER IS THE JOKE. Not only does the think he is above the law, he thinks he is above gods laws. Now he says he is taking this all the way to the supreme court. Wasting your tax dollars so he doesn’t have to pay taxes. What a scam.
Keller, as every American and those who live in democratic societies, have the right to free speech. He can preach what he wants, and encourage others. But the limit is using the airways and his tax-free status to play politics. If he wants to play politics, then do it without tax-exempt status. Lots of folks want religion out of government. In some ways that is impossible and as it should be. America’s tolerance of religions by its citizens is God given right.
Keller may have points to make. So did Hitler. What he does with his tax-exempt status should be as important as what our next president believes. Go IRS!!
rwp
What does this have to do with taxes? It’s a political rant. A partisan political rant. The government putting limits on what stance the 501(c)(3) organizations may believe and preach is equal to government intervention in religion, regardless of what religion it is. I believe many of the “Christian” religions in this country are not Christian, and I can prove it by their own words. However, I keep that to myself.
As far as your Biblical quote as ammunition against this person’s opinion is concerned, is is out of context, as usual for political rants.
Jesus commanded us to “Love thy neighbor…” and He also commanded us to “Judge not let ye be judged…” Both of which would be out of context in this article.
Um, it has a lot to do with taxes – esp as the IRS is investigating. Keller has chosen to take advantage of a provision of the tax code – he made the application to be treated as 501(c)(3) – and now he chooses to ignore the rules. That has tax consequences – hence its appearance on a tax blog.
As to partisan? Hardly. I clearly state in all of my posts on this subject that Keller is being investigated for making statements against Romney (GOP) and now, there are calls for statements against Obama (Dems). How is that partisan? I don’t care what he says about any candidates as long as he doesn’t use his organization as a platform to do it.
Finally, re out of context, granted, I didn’t quote the entire book of Matthew or all of the gospels – you can read that on your own. But my point was that when Jesus was asked the greatest commandments, this was his answer. He didn’t encourage his followers to belittle those that they perceive as enemies.