IRS doesn't like God's involvement in politics

I read this today in the Sacramento Bee.
The Internal Revenue Service has warned the All Saints Episcopal Church in Pasadena, California, that it may be losing its tax exemption, citing a sermon by the Rev. George F. Regas, on Oct. 31, 2004...According to the story, he did not take sides or tell parishioners who to vote for, but he did criticize the war in Iraq, stating that Jesus would have called Bush's pre-emptive war "a failed doctrine," and that "Forcibly changing the regime of an enemy that posed no imminent threat has led to disaster."

Finx, do you think this has any bearing on the Republican's Justice Sunday?

UPDATE (11/8/05 9:38 am PST) by FINX:

Well, if yer askin'. I'm not sure how this all gets decided, but I'd bet dollars to donuts someone's playing fast and loose with the rules yet again. For example, how is it that the James Dobsons of the world can claim to be "men of God" and yet cheat the American tax code by using their spiritual institutions to do the bidding of politicians? His Focus on the Family group was at one time part of a powerful far-right lobbying group called The Family Research Council (FRC). This relationship was troubling to folks in D.C. because the ties were a little too close for comfort, so the IRS applied pressure and the FRC severed it's "official" ties to Dobson's group in 1992 (by the way, this was the second time they had to do this). However, Dobson stayed on the board long after the official split and claimed the two organizations were "spiritually one".

So, it would seems that the rules are being selectively applied in this instance to send a message. Is that really any surpise to anyone in these days of the Christian-Right/Republican mafia tactics we see being employed day in and day out. Just ask Republican uber-lobbyists Jack Abramoff and Michael Scanlon about the rules of the game:

"The wackos get their information through the Christian right, Christian radio, mail, the internet and telephone trees," Scanlon wrote in the memo, which was read into the public record at a hearing of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee. "Simply put, we want to bring out the wackos to vote against something and make sure the rest of the public lets the whole thing slip past them."

Awesome.

To me, the most appalling things about all of these people is that they act as though they own God. The "Family Research Council" is a corporation after all. One who's work is dedicated to such noble causes as the quest to eliminate hate crime legislation. God knows Jesus would be out there beating the shit of gay men every chance he could, right?