RICHARD DYMOND
Herald Staff Writer
Daily headlines are providing plenty of fodder for local clergy:
The resignation of a U.S. congressman who championed child protection, after it was revealed he had sent sexually explicit electronic messages to a 16-year-old page.
The murder of children in classrooms in Pennsylvania and Colorado.
A rancorous national debate over the war in Iraq.
And an acrimonious national election fast approaching on Nov. 7.
While clergy may preach about the sin, they can't necessarily preach about the sinner - if he or she is a candidate - without endangering their tax-exempt status, under a 52-year-old ban on political activity.
Churches "can engage in a limited amount of lobbying (including ballot measures) and advocate for or against issues that are in the political arena," according to the Internal Revenue Service.
That leaves clergy enough room to speak out on current events.
And they can urge their flocks to turn out in numbers at the polls.
Today's sermon: Go vote
Perhaps the No. 1 issue that religious leaders are stumping for this year is to motivate residents to get out and vote, said the Rev. Tad Mathews of Church on the Rock in Palmetto.
"I just came out of a meeting where someone told me that there are 60 million evangelical Christians in America, and 40 percent didn't vote in the last presidential election, and 25 percent are not registered to vote," Mathews said. "That's crazy."
Church on the Rock provides voter packets inside the church for the public, Mathews said.
The responsibility to vote is a theme repeated in pulpits all over the region, said Lexi Taylor, executive director of Manatee Religious Services.
"Pastors know they are not allowed to endorse candidates from the pulpit, but they are telling their congregations to get out and vote," Taylor said.
The IRS earlier this year released the results of audits involving churches and charities. Out of 87 completed audits from the 2004 election cycle, political intervention was substantiated in 71 percent of the cases, the IRS reported.
Tough talk on Foley
When the Rev. Al Yusko of Bradenton gave the invocation at a county commission meeting recently, he told the attending politicians they need to be "pure of heart and agenda-less."
"I prayed for them that they could be held to the highest standards," said Yusko, who founded the Bradenton-based More Than Conquerors Ministry International.
In the days since former Rep. Mark Foley acknowledged he had had sexually explicit communications with underage congressional pages and resigned from the House of Representatives, the key issue for this election year has become "moral decay," according to Yusko.
"As for Foley, people think what they do in their private time is no one's business but their own," Yusko said. "Not true. What Foley did in his private time affected his public time."
Rabbi Mendy Bukiet of Chabad of Bradenton, a congregation that meets at Lakewood Ranch, said he believes politicians can become drunk with power.
"Ultimately, everyone in power decides did the power come from themselves or from others," Bukiet said. "If you conclude the power comes from you, it is easy to be corrupted. When one realizes it comes from others who put faith and trust in you, it is then easier to maintain a healthy respect for the power."
Some remind their congregants that politicians are humans.
"Every man has clay feet," said the Rev. Wendell Wilson of Loving Hands Ministry in Palmetto. "Foley was involved in writing child protection law, so maybe his own problems led him to realize the importance of child protection."
Others, like the Rev. James Golden of Temple Ward African Methodist Episcopal Church, have little sympathy for Foley. Golden is also state committeeman for the Democratic Party in Manatee County, a member of the Bradenton City Council and a lawyer.
"He has been discovered as being so hypocritical to the values he espoused publicly," Golden said. "We all have our faults, but most of us don't flaunt them in the face of the people we represent.
"I do commend him for resigning, unlike other lawmakers who have transgressed and fought to the bitter end to maintain positions of power," Golden added.
It's about the people
A lack of sensitivity to the Muslim community is another key issue this election year.
Muslims in Manatee and Sarasota counties are concerned that "Islam bashing" will increase as politicians struggle for votes, said Samir Khatib, the president of the Islamic Society of Bradenton & Sarasota.
"It happens every day that innocent American-born Muslim people are insulted," Khatib said. "Politicians are slamming Muslims to get more votes. I heard one politician in Tampa say all Muslim men must be profiled. That is the most degrading statement and does nothing but enhance more hate."
Statements like that must be addressed, he said.
"If politicians say Muslim men have to be profiled, it is out of ignorance," Khatib said. "They do not know what Islam is about. They misrepresent Islam as a religion to get the votes to get them into office."
Debates on the war in Iraq have only intensified as Election Day nears.
Wilson said he still trusts President Bush's leadership on the war on terror and the war in Iraq.
"Our president had multiple facts that I doubt any of us had," Wilson said. "I think we have no choice but to pursue the war in Iraq so we don't allow that place to be a haven for terrorists who will plot right there. I am sticking with the president."
In the Jewish community, Bukiet said, war is justified only if someone is really out to kill you.
"You can't keep running if someone is chasing you with a knife," Bukiet said. "You have an obligation to defend yourself."
Golden has found an increasing level of insecurity among his congregation since Sept. 11, 2001, that is exacerbated by the war.
"I think the war in Afghanistan is not effective in that we still have not located Osama Bin Laden," Golden said. "I think the war in Iraq is not effective because we deposed Saddam Hussein and the region is no longer stable."
But the biggest issue facing the nation, according to Golden, is how many people just don't care. Ministers, rabbis and other spiritual leaders are trying to change that, however they are allowed.
"If you look at the voting turnout, for every election at every level, it's harder to get people to demonstrate they care by voting," Golden said. "It's no longer a question of blue states and red states. It's a question of people who care, and those who don't."
Richard Dymond, Herald reporter, can be reached at rdymond@HeraldToday.com or at 708-7917.
© 2006 Bradenton Herald and wire service sources. All Rights Reserved.
http://www.bradenton.com
Herald Staff Writer
Daily headlines are providing plenty of fodder for local clergy:
The resignation of a U.S. congressman who championed child protection, after it was revealed he had sent sexually explicit electronic messages to a 16-year-old page.
The murder of children in classrooms in Pennsylvania and Colorado.
A rancorous national debate over the war in Iraq.
And an acrimonious national election fast approaching on Nov. 7.
While clergy may preach about the sin, they can't necessarily preach about the sinner - if he or she is a candidate - without endangering their tax-exempt status, under a 52-year-old ban on political activity.
Churches "can engage in a limited amount of lobbying (including ballot measures) and advocate for or against issues that are in the political arena," according to the Internal Revenue Service.
That leaves clergy enough room to speak out on current events.
And they can urge their flocks to turn out in numbers at the polls.
Today's sermon: Go vote
Perhaps the No. 1 issue that religious leaders are stumping for this year is to motivate residents to get out and vote, said the Rev. Tad Mathews of Church on the Rock in Palmetto.
"I just came out of a meeting where someone told me that there are 60 million evangelical Christians in America, and 40 percent didn't vote in the last presidential election, and 25 percent are not registered to vote," Mathews said. "That's crazy."
Church on the Rock provides voter packets inside the church for the public, Mathews said.
The responsibility to vote is a theme repeated in pulpits all over the region, said Lexi Taylor, executive director of Manatee Religious Services.
"Pastors know they are not allowed to endorse candidates from the pulpit, but they are telling their congregations to get out and vote," Taylor said.
The IRS earlier this year released the results of audits involving churches and charities. Out of 87 completed audits from the 2004 election cycle, political intervention was substantiated in 71 percent of the cases, the IRS reported.
Tough talk on Foley
When the Rev. Al Yusko of Bradenton gave the invocation at a county commission meeting recently, he told the attending politicians they need to be "pure of heart and agenda-less."
"I prayed for them that they could be held to the highest standards," said Yusko, who founded the Bradenton-based More Than Conquerors Ministry International.
In the days since former Rep. Mark Foley acknowledged he had had sexually explicit communications with underage congressional pages and resigned from the House of Representatives, the key issue for this election year has become "moral decay," according to Yusko.
"As for Foley, people think what they do in their private time is no one's business but their own," Yusko said. "Not true. What Foley did in his private time affected his public time."
Rabbi Mendy Bukiet of Chabad of Bradenton, a congregation that meets at Lakewood Ranch, said he believes politicians can become drunk with power.
"Ultimately, everyone in power decides did the power come from themselves or from others," Bukiet said. "If you conclude the power comes from you, it is easy to be corrupted. When one realizes it comes from others who put faith and trust in you, it is then easier to maintain a healthy respect for the power."
Some remind their congregants that politicians are humans.
"Every man has clay feet," said the Rev. Wendell Wilson of Loving Hands Ministry in Palmetto. "Foley was involved in writing child protection law, so maybe his own problems led him to realize the importance of child protection."
Others, like the Rev. James Golden of Temple Ward African Methodist Episcopal Church, have little sympathy for Foley. Golden is also state committeeman for the Democratic Party in Manatee County, a member of the Bradenton City Council and a lawyer.
"He has been discovered as being so hypocritical to the values he espoused publicly," Golden said. "We all have our faults, but most of us don't flaunt them in the face of the people we represent.
"I do commend him for resigning, unlike other lawmakers who have transgressed and fought to the bitter end to maintain positions of power," Golden added.
It's about the people
A lack of sensitivity to the Muslim community is another key issue this election year.
Muslims in Manatee and Sarasota counties are concerned that "Islam bashing" will increase as politicians struggle for votes, said Samir Khatib, the president of the Islamic Society of Bradenton & Sarasota.
"It happens every day that innocent American-born Muslim people are insulted," Khatib said. "Politicians are slamming Muslims to get more votes. I heard one politician in Tampa say all Muslim men must be profiled. That is the most degrading statement and does nothing but enhance more hate."
Statements like that must be addressed, he said.
"If politicians say Muslim men have to be profiled, it is out of ignorance," Khatib said. "They do not know what Islam is about. They misrepresent Islam as a religion to get the votes to get them into office."
Debates on the war in Iraq have only intensified as Election Day nears.
Wilson said he still trusts President Bush's leadership on the war on terror and the war in Iraq.
"Our president had multiple facts that I doubt any of us had," Wilson said. "I think we have no choice but to pursue the war in Iraq so we don't allow that place to be a haven for terrorists who will plot right there. I am sticking with the president."
In the Jewish community, Bukiet said, war is justified only if someone is really out to kill you.
"You can't keep running if someone is chasing you with a knife," Bukiet said. "You have an obligation to defend yourself."
Golden has found an increasing level of insecurity among his congregation since Sept. 11, 2001, that is exacerbated by the war.
"I think the war in Afghanistan is not effective in that we still have not located Osama Bin Laden," Golden said. "I think the war in Iraq is not effective because we deposed Saddam Hussein and the region is no longer stable."
But the biggest issue facing the nation, according to Golden, is how many people just don't care. Ministers, rabbis and other spiritual leaders are trying to change that, however they are allowed.
"If you look at the voting turnout, for every election at every level, it's harder to get people to demonstrate they care by voting," Golden said. "It's no longer a question of blue states and red states. It's a question of people who care, and those who don't."
Richard Dymond, Herald reporter, can be reached at rdymond@HeraldToday.com or at 708-7917.
© 2006 Bradenton Herald and wire service sources. All Rights Reserved.
http://www.bradenton.com
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