Freedom from Religion group, IRS settle lawsuit - SFGate

The Internal Revenue Service has instituted a protocol for investigating tax-exempt churches and religious organizations involved in political activity, according to a Wisconsin-based group representing atheists and agnostics that filed a federal lawsuit over the issue.

The Freedom from Religion Foundation and the IRS submitted a motion in federal court on Thursday asking the judge to dismiss the case filed in 2012. The FFRF announced the settlement on Friday.

"This is a victory, and we're pleased with this development in which the IRS has proved to our satisfaction that it now has in place a protocol to enforce its own anti-electioneering provisions," said the group's co-president Annie Laurie Gaylor.

An IRS spokesman for Wisconsin said he was not familiar with the case and had no immediate comment.

Although Annie Laurie sounds optimistic, I have a feeling this will not be the last we hear of this issue and as Hemant Mehta points out:

"It couldn’t have come at a better time. The Christian Right group Liberty Counsel announced this week that it would be distributing 150,000 DVDs to pastors across the country encouraging them to “address biblical and moral issues” from the pulpit — which is evangelical code for “tell your congregations which way to vote” since the only thing pastors ever do is address biblical and moral issues from the pulpit.

"(Liberty Counsel’s Mat Staver added that if they didn’t send the DVDs, then Hitler would win: “We saw how the spiral of silence had devastating results in Nazi Germany. We need to stop the spiral of silence in America.”)

“Pastors and churches must be empowered to confront the assaults on our culture, our faith, and our freedom,” says Mat Staver, Founder and Chairman of Liberty Counsel. “German Political Scientist Elisabeth Noelle-Neumann coined the expression ‘spiral of silence.’ Noelle-Neumann began her career working for a newspaper during Hitler’s years, where she found that people conceal their views when they think they are in the minority or may face reprisal for their beliefs. We saw how the spiral of silence had devastating results in Nazi Germany. We need to stop the spiral of silence in America,” Staver said.

 Freedom from Religion group, IRS settle lawsuit - SFGate