Can churches post political signs on their property?

[Ice4Clark]

One of the local churches, which is on a main thoroughfare, has a huge sign in front of the church asking voters to vote against the gay marriage amendment. Is this legal? I mean, does that comply with the IRS rules with regards to tax exemption? I believe they can't put up candidate signs, but wondered about signs for or against propositions. Anyone know? I know before the 04 elections, many of the churches gave out voter guides and they were heavily slanted toward W.

[geardaddy]

1. Unfortunately I believe they are within their rights.

The local UU church has a huge sign supporting gay marriage.

[benny05]

2. Thank Goodness

The UU's rock...

And yes, plenty of Freeper Churches do this.

Here's one from Lubbock Texas that I took last year:

http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/5974/569/1600/churchpollubb.psf

[BlueStorm]

8. Benny your link isn't working for some reason...

I keep getting this message:

Forbidden
Error 403

Blue

[unblock]

3. not a lawyer, but fairly certain it's NOT ok

strictly speaking, the political speech is perfectly legal -- it's avoiding taxes by claiming tax-exempt status that's illegal.

[havocmom]

4. Social issues signs are OK but party & canidate support is not

Isnt that the way the IRS rules go (sorry about isnt. my apostrophy suddenly wont work :shrug:)

[progdonkey]

5. also not a lawyer here, but...

I think the issue is how specific it is. If it says "Vote for/against Candidate X" it's (obviously) crossing the line.

If it says "Vote for/against HR1221" I think that also crosses the line. (Sounds like this would be the case with the church you're writing about.)

If it just says "Marriage is between a man and a woman" or "Marriage is about love between two adults" and so on, I don't believe that crosses the line, because it doesn't refer to any specific laws or political candidates.

So, I think the UU church mentioned in the earlier post would be perfectly fine, since it's just supporting an issue, but the church you mention would be violating the law, since it's advocating voting for/against a specific bill or candidate.

But of course, I'm not a lawyer, so take my advice with a grain of salt. ;-)

[Ice4Clark]

6. I'll walk over there tomorrow and read it carefully

I thought it mentioned the proposition number at the bottom.........These churches around here spewed so many lies about Kerry in the last election I was outraged.

[Thickasabrick]

7. It may be legal but that sign is asking to be vandalized.

[welshTerrier2]

9. here's exactly what "TAX EXEMPT" churches can and cannot do ...

http://journals.democraticunderground.com/welshTerrier2/18

any church can be as political as it wants to be but to retain a "tax exempt" status, certain rules must be followed ... in the specific situation described in the OP, i think the church is not violating those rules ... "issue advocacy", at least in my "non-legal" opinion, is almost always acceptable whereas candidate or party support or endorsement is usually not ...