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| | Pastor claims victory in IRS complaint
Thursday, Sep 16, 2004 By Doug Thompson Arkansas News Bureau SPRINGDALE - Ronnie Floyd, pastor of the First Baptist Church of Springdale, claimed vindication Wednesday after eight weeks with no action on a complaint against him to the IRS. "The baseless and false allegations by the Americans United group have proven to be just that - baseless and false," Floyd said at a news conference on Wednesday. Floyd had no evidence except the lapse of time to support his claim, and Barry Lynn, director of the organization that filed the complaint, said Floyd's comments are premature. The IRS had no comment. Americans United for the Separation of Church and State filed a complaint July 20 against Floyd, claiming that the pastor endorsed President Bush in a July 4 sermon. Such an endorsement would violate the church's tax-exempt status, the Washington-based group's complaint said. "Our church has received absolutely no contact from the Internal Revenue Service," Floyd said. "As stated throughout this ordeal, there has never been a church to lose its tax-exempt status over political lobbying or endorsement, although we were guilty of neither of these issues." Lynn called Floyd's claim that the IRS had found the case to be without merit "absolute nonsense. The backlog on these complaints extends for more than a year. Just this week, the IRS announced the results of an investigation in an incident that occurred in the Jeb Bush-Janet Reno race for governor in Florida two years ago. For him to claim victory at this point is premature to say the least." IRS spokesman Phil Beasley of Dallas said Wednesday that the agency would have no comment, saying that comment on the matter or whether any backlog was a factor would be case-specific, and the agency does not comment on specific tax cases. Floyd, who said the IRS complaint has rallied churches to take a more active role on some political issues, also announced that his church would participate in a national rally for a proposed U.S. constitutional amendment to prohibit same-sex marriages. At 5:30 p.m. Sunday, the Springdale church will be linked with other churches across the country for a simulcast "Battle for Marriage III - We Vote Values" program. Floyd is listed as one of eight featured speakers for the Sunday event on the Web site: www.wevotevalues.com. The rally also will support proposed state constitutional amendments to prohibit gay marriage, including the proposal in Arkansas. Election Day is Nov. 2. Floyd said the church was "expecting several thousand people here on Sunday evening" and that doors to the church would open at 4:30 p.m. that day to accommodate the expected crowd. Rallies about proposed laws and specific causes do not violate anti-electioneering regulations of the IRS, Lynn said. "As long as they're not endorsing any candidates, it's allowed," he said. |
