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...intention is to try to get us to back down," said Kevin Hollinger, the pastor of Algona's First Baptist Church and a letter recipient. Like dozens of other evangelical leaders in Iowa, Hollinger has personally endorsed Huckabee, a fellow Baptist pastor, while encouraging his church membership to participate in the caucuses. In Iowa, polls show that Huckabee has a significant advantage among evangelical voters over his closest competitor, Mitt Romney, a Mormon who has courted the support of evangelical leaders across the country with more mixed success...
...Under federal rules, churches and other tax exempt organizations are barred from explicitly supporting or opposing a candidate. Church leaders, however, can still encourage congregants to participate in elections or caucuses, and they may discuss general political issues, like abortion and marriage, from the pulpit. Leaders can also endorse candidates in their capacity as private citizens...
...anonymous mailings includes a seven-year-old news article about a church that lost its tax-exempt status after paying for a newspaper ad that criticized former President Bill Clinton. Another mailing warns church leaders against "campaigning" for a candidate, before announcing in capital letters: "IT WILL LAND YOU IN THE SLAMMER!" The letter, which is signed by "Concerned Christian," then suggests that churches should avoid even more anodyne political involvement. "With Sen. Grassley holding hearings on exactly this issue in Washington DC, we can't be to careful!!!!" it states, with a notable misspelling. Hollinger said the letters were...
...letters became a topic of discussion on a Wednesday morning conference call with Iowa pastors that was organized by the U.S. Pastor Council and several Christian leaders who have personally endorsed Huckabee. "It's literature kind of indicating that churches better not be involved in politics," said another letter recipient and Huckabee endorser, Pastor Terry Amann, of the Walnut Creek Community Church in Windsor Heights. The call included about 50 leaders, including bestselling Christian author Tim LaHaye, who also supports Huckabee...
...Algona, a town of about 5,500, Mike Rusch has taken that message to heart. A Huckabee supporter and church elder, he has been talking to his neighbors about the importance of attending the caucus, even though he is a registered independent who has never before participated in the event. "We will be making sure that our friends and neighbors have a ride so they can get there," Rusch said...