Silencing the shepherds.(INSIDER REPORT)

The Sunday prior to the 2004 presidential election, Rev. George F. Regas of Pasadena's All Saints Episcopal Church preached a sermon denouncing the Bush administration's doctrine of "preemptive war." While it was clear to even the casual listener that Rev. Regas would have preferred to see Mr. Bush lose his campaign for reelection, he pointedly stated that "good people of profound faith" could vote for either the incumbent or the Democratic challenger, Senator John Kerry. (That little of substance separated the two major party candidates was not mentioned, and perhaps was not understood, by Rev. Regas.)

Despite the fact that the sermon was not a partisan political address, the Internal Revenue Service has threatened to revoke the church's tax-exempt status. All Saints is reputed to be a very activist liberal congregation. Its tax attorney, a former IRS official, told the Los Angeles Times that it is "ludicrous to suggest that a pastor cannot preach about the value of promoting peace simply because the nation happens to be at war during an election season."

The IRS, working through a network of informants, has collected information used to threaten similarly ludicrous acts of persecution against conservative congregations. Thus "conservative churches may be forgiven for feeling a bit of schadenfreude" over the plight of All Saints, comments Charles C. Haynes of the First Amendment ...