FL church defends hate sign against gays. AU says IRS should investigate..

madfloridian

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Fri Mar-26-10 03:08 PM
Original message

FL church defends hate sign against gays. AU says IRS should investigate..

Edited on Fri Mar-26-10 03:15 PM by madfloridian

about whether this church is practicing politics by getting involved in a mayoral race.

There is no excuse for such ugliness. It is tragic that a church would put such a sign in their yard.

Americans United for Separation of Church and State has requested the IRS determine if this crosses the line between church and state.

IRS Should Investigate Florida Church For Opposing Mayoral Candidate, Says Americans United

Americans United for Separation of Church and State today asked the Internal Revenue Service to investigate a church in Gainesville, Fla., that posted a sign opposing a mayoral candidate. Dove World Outreach Center erected a sign on its property reading, “No Homo Mayor.” The reference is to Craig Lowe, a mayoral candidate who is gay. Contacted about the matter by the Gainesville Sun, a top church official admitted that the church had erected the sign.

“We don’t feel as though the city should be represented by a homosexual,” said Terry Jones, senior pastor at Dove World Outreach Center.

The Rev. Barry W. Lynn, Americans United executive director, called the church’s actions a blatant example of illegal politicking by a tax-exempt group.

“This is an open-and-shut case,” Lynn said. “The church freely admits that it intended to intervene in the election in violation of federal tax law. I urge the IRS to act promptly.”

I agree with AU. This is outrageous.

Looks like the county was already called in by an anonymous tip, but the inspector said it was all ok as long as they were just a church.

County investigates Dove World Outreach Center

County officials investigated the Dove World Outreach Center after receiving an anonymous complaint the church was violating tax-exemption laws.

The anonymous tip sent to the Alachua Country Property Appraiser claimed the church wasn’t paying taxes on part of the building leased to TS & Company, a furniture business run by Dove World Outreach Center preachers Terry and Sylvia Jones.

Sheila Crapo, a property appraiser administrative analyst, said she investigated the church on Thursday, and the furniture business was leasing 1,700 square feet of the 9,000-square-foot church.

Crapo said the building could remain tax-exempt as long as its predominate use was for religious purposes.

Maybe Ms Crapo is unaware of the hate signs?

This is the same church that had a sign saying Islam is of the Devil. The Gainesville, Florida community fought back against that sign...it was good to see them do that last year.

Florida church posts sign saying Islam is of the Devil. Refuses to take it down. Community protests

Video at the link from the ABC affiliate.

Residents carried their own signs Wednesday evening calling for "peace not hate" in response to a northwest Gainesville church that recently posted a sign with an anti-Islamic message.

At least 80 people gathered on both sides of Northwest 37th Street in front of the Dove World Outreach Center for a prayer vigil organized after the church recently erected a sign proclaiming "Islam is of the devil."

Participants held up their signs and listened to words from Eve MacMaster, pastor of the Emmanuel Mennonite Church, and Saeed R. Kahn, president of the Muslim Association of North Central Florida. The group maintained its vigil for at least an hour as members at the church gathered for a 7 p.m. service.

After learning about the church's red-lettered sign, MacMaster used e-mail to let others in the community know about the vigil.

"We're here to stand in solidarity with our Muslim neighbors," MacMaster said. The purpose of the vigil, she said, was express the goodwill of most citizens and religious people toward Muslims and to "pray for the cleansing of the community."

Maybe it's time for that community to come together again in defense of another group which is hated by Dove World Outreach