Barry Lynn, the anti-Christian reverend and director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, filed a complaint today with the IRS against the Roman Catholic Diocese of Peoria, Illinois. Lynn claims the diocese broke federal rules when the bishop spoke out against Barack Obama's unconstitutional mandate that forces Catholic institutions to pay for birth control for employees when it goes against church doctrine.
Bishop Jenky spoke out last week against Obama's clear violation of America's first amendment rights.
KansasCity.com reported:
A prominent advocate of church-state separation filed a formal complaint with the Internal Revenue Service on Thursday, accusing the Roman Catholic Diocese of Peoria, Ill., of violating federal law by intervening in a political campaign.
The Rev. Barry Lynn, executive director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, alleges that a fiery homily delivered by Peoria Bishop Daniel Jenky last Sunday effectively urged Catholics to vote against President Barack Obama in the 2012 presidential election.
Jenky's homily criticized policies proposed by the Obama administration that would require all employers, including religious groups, to provide free birth control coverage in their health care plans. The bishop included Obama's policies in a litany of government challenges the Catholic Church has overcome in previous centuries, including Hitler and Stalin's campaigns.
"Hitler and Stalin, at their better moments, would just barely tolerate some churches remaining open, but would not tolerate any competition with the state in education, social services and health care," Jenky said. "In clear violation of our First Amendment rights, Barack Obama - with his radical, pro-abortion and extreme secularist agenda - now seems intent on following a similar path." Lynn has said church-affiliated agencies that operate on taxpayer dollars should follow public policy guidelines or only collect money from parishioners.
But remarks delivered later in the homily prompted Lynn's complaint to the IRS. "This fall, every practicing Catholic must vote, and must vote their Catholic consciences, or by the following fall our Catholic schools, our Catholic hospitals, our Catholic Newman Centers, all our public ministries - only excepting our church buildings - could easily be shut down," Jenky said.
Hat Tip Christina
