by Mac MacArthur

Thursday, June 10, 1999 --- New York (APJP) -- In a stunning blow to Ralph Reed's Christian Coalition (now we know why Ralph fled to the private sector), none other than the universally-loathed IRS felled the wanna-be-mighty crusading Christian Coalition with a single blow -- a blow that leaves the likes of TelevangeTubbie Jerry Falwell and his eminence, Late Night Cable "Pope" Pat Robertson, on their knees.

...begging God to keep them out of jail!

Of course, there was nothing stunning about the IRS ruling that denied the Christian Coalition status as a tax-exempt organization -- save perhaps how long it took them to shove that 501(c)(4) into the rectums of those who "preach" family values at your expense.

Of course, the IRS did not focus on true Christians or their churches -- only on those who seek to aggregate personal power while invoking the name of Jesus as their cover.

Reverend Barry Lynn of Americans United said,  "The Christian Coalition is a hardball political machine that has been masquerading as a tax-exempt group. The IRS has finally pulled off the mask."

"This is a devastating blow to TV preacher Pat Robertson's political ambitions," continued Lynn. "His crusade to politicize America's churches is now almost certain to fail. I, for one, say 'Amen!'"

And so do I.

"The Coalition's primary political weapons are its voter guides," Lynn added. "Every year the Christian Coalition attempts to flex its political muscle by distributing these slanted guides in thousands of churches.

"In light of the IRS action, pastors would have to be out of their minds to distribute these guides now. The Christian Coalition's credibility is shot! That's the real impact of the IRS action."

But Lynn is too easy on Robertson and the like. Robertson, who has the gall to open universities which must teach our children the art of the religious rip-off and who laughably ran for President of the United States in order to bring more cash into his coffers, is the driving force behind the "New Right," a political movement which hides behind the Bible when preaching hatred and bigotry -- much of it aimed at the Clinton family and their private distress.

Those Americans with either little education or a lot of stupidity follow the Christian Colaition "Voter Guides" as if they were the Ten Commandments. Robertson and his sheep have been responsible for destroying the lives and political careers of some of the best men and women ever to have served this nation.

Robertson, who often takes credit for the 1994 takeover of Congress by the GOP, was planning the takeover of the White House in 2000. In my opinion, the plans for that second takeover included the character assassination of Bill Clinton, a campaign of hate led by the religious right and buttressed by the likes of William Bennett who plugged Robertson-like dogma to millions of "religious intellectuals" in his book "Death of Outrage." You had ought to take a look at what Bennett has to say -- it reads more like Robertson's "Mein Kampf" than Bennett's own thoughts.

And now Robertson and his ilk will pay handsomely for their thinly veiled scheme which Americans United exposed when they handed the IRS a tape recording of a private 1997 speech by Pat Robertson to Christian Coalition strong men in which he outlined his personal political goals and strategies -- and proved beyond any doubt that his organization was nothing but a front for his own personal political and economic gain.

During the meeting, Robertson urged his little "college of cardinals" to emulate political machines such as Tammany Hall.

"That tape was the smoking gun," concluded AU's Lynn. "Robertson
sounded more like a ward boss than a religious leader. After that, the IRS had no choice but to deny the group's tax exemption."

I agree with Reverend Lynn, but the IRS hunt should not stop with the Christian Coalition.

It should be expanded to look into all televangelist's income, now tax-free and funnelled into "schools and colleges" which are nothing more than boot camps for ultra-right religious soldiers that could paralyze our nation with hatred, bigotry, homophobia, racism and far worse before the end of the next decade.

While Robertson's little klan of religious crusaders was never as powerful as he claimed, the IRS should be appluaded for exposing this crook and everyone around him for what they really are.

We trust that both the IRS and the Justice Department will make their ruling retroactive and collect those back taxes, plus penalties and interest since the Coalition's inception.

We also trust that the men and women who planned the Coalition's illegal use of taxpayer money to fund its attack on our freedoms will be indicted and imprisoned for tax evasion and other felonies that had to have occurred throughout these last years.

The FBI	Address E-Mail to: Special Agent in Charge Donald W. Thompson Jr. or Assistant Special Agent in Charge William R. Falls FBI Field Office, Richmond, Virginia
The IRS	Address E-Mail to: Charles O. Rossotti, Commissioner of Internal Revenue
The Department of Justice	Address E-Mail to: Janet Reno, Attorney General