Prop 8 is back in the headlines and so is the Church of Latter Day Saints. In the weeks after Proposition 8 the Church of Latter Days Saints, whose adherents are also known as Mormons, disclosed that they did indeed contribute roughly $190,000.00 in non-monetary donations to support the measure.
Recently a Californian ruling allowed same sex couples to marry. Proposition 8, which passed by a very narrow margin, states that, “only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California.” Over 80 million dollars in contributions were donated to efforts to pass or defeat the measure, breaking all previous records held in California.
So it might seem odd that people are so concerned over a $190,000.00 in-kind contribution. The root of the problem is that the Church of Latter Day Saints is a religious institution recognized by the federal government as a tax-free 501(c)(3) entity. Part of retaining this tax-free status is a provision from the IRS that disallows such entities from influencing legislation. Therefore such entities can speak out on issues, but cannot specifically campaign for or against a given law, political candidate, etc. The line is a thin one, but it is there.
So when Californians Against Hate brought up a complaint against the Mormon Church with California’s Fair Political Practices Commission it appears to be justified.
Many believe the Mormon Church is being targeted unfairly, citing that their small in-kind contribution is dwarfed by the sheer volume of money that poured into the coffers of entities concerned with Prop 8. There are instances on both side of the issue where individual contributors donated a million dollars at a crack.
Critics point out that the true nature of the Mormon Church’s contribution could be obfuscated. An even larger worry is if the Church of Latter Day Saints specifically told its members to donate money to pass Prop 8, violating the rules regulating 501(c)(3)s again. Citizens of the state of Utah donated almost 4 million dollars to groups concerned with passage Prop 8, and over 70% of those donations were to causes supporting the ban. 2.5 million of the money came in the final three weeks before the election. California is the only state that had more contributions concerning Prop 8.
Like it or not, I believe it makes sense that tax-free religious institutions are not able to actively influence politics. The division of church and state is a precarious balance, and keeping the two parties as far from influencing one another as possible can only benefit the concepts of religious and political freedom. Just because one group finds an act or concept morally reprehensible does not necessarily mean it should be legislated as illegal. To act soley on that impulse would damage the concept of political freedom as much as the US Senate proscribing moral beliefs upon a religious community.
