Subject: CC "VOTER GUIDE" WATCH #6
From: [email-masked]
Date: Sat, 2 Nov 1996 09:25:12 -0500

CHRISTIAN COALITION "VOTER GUIDE" WATCH #6 --

From a PA "c.c.watcher" (11/1) --

The following was sent to the Lancaster (PA) Newspapers.

WARNING: DECEPTIVE VOTERS GUIDES
The Alliance for Tolerance and Freedom and The National
Interfaith Alliance challenge the Christian Coalition Voter
Guides

For Immediate Release                   Contact: Laura Montgomery Rutt
November 1, 1996                                         717-581-1029

        In Lancaster, Pennsylvania and across the nation, religious and
community leaders are issuing a warning to voters concerning the
supposedly "pro-family" voter guides issued by the Christian
Coalition and other like-minded organizations at the last minute the
Sunday before the elections.

        The Interfaith Alliance believes that the Christian Coalition's
voter guides appear to favor one candidate over another with
information which is neither fair nor accurate, using them to promote
their political agenda, rather than educate voters to the candidates'
stands on important issues. The Interfaith Alliance is a faith based
non-partisan organization which has 109 chapters in 35 states,
drawing its membership from 45 different faith communities. The
Interfaith Alliance is dedicated to promoting values, strengthening
families and building communities.

        Voter guides are required by law to be non-partisan, but the
Christian Coalition guides appear to favor far right ultra-conservative
candidates over less conservative ones with distorted and misleading
information.  According to Americans United for Separation of
Church and State, this is done by selecting 6 - 10 issues for
publication from a large list of surveyed items which highlights
points of disagreement with the candidates they oppose, making the
candidates appear polarized on all the issues.  For example, if both
candidates oppose abortion, that issue will not be mentioned in the
voter's guides. And if an opposing candidate supports the National
Endowment of the Arts, that candidate is listed as supporting
"taxpayer funded obscene art", even if they voted to limit how these
funds could be used. These distortions have led to an ongoing
investigation by the Federal Election Commission.

        In the GOP primary in Lancaster County this spring, voter
guides similar to those distributed by the Christian Coalition, were
handed to unsuspecting people who were told that the highlighted
candidates were the "Christians" that were running for delegate, state
committee, and Congress.  What they were not told was that there
were several other Republican Christians on the ballot who were not
highlighted because all their views did not fall in lock step with the
right-wing conservative GOP which has taken control of the local
republican party.

        "Unsuspecting people look at the voter guides distributed by the
Christian Coalition and like-minded organizations, and falsely
believe that using the word Christian gives them credibility" stated
Laura Montgomery Rutt, local political activist and Director of  The
Alliance for Tolerance and Freedom.  "What we object to is the
implication that the Christian Coalition speaks for all Christians, and
that the Christian Coalition is a religious organization.  It does not
speak for all Christians, and it is not a religious organization, but a
political one, pure and simple."

        The Christian Coalition's political tactics, which are also
employed by local religious/political organizations, have also come
under the scrutiny of the IRS. The Coalition is operating
provisionally as a 501(c)(4), which means they pay NO taxes on the
millions of dollars sent to them each year.  It also means that
involvement in electoral politics must NOT  be their primary
purpose. Critics maintain that this is the only reason for their
existence.

        Deb Hayes, Republican Committee Person and former
candidate for the Republican National Convention, has seen first
hand the dealings of the far right conservative GOP in Lancaster.
The recent controversy and dissention surrounding the adoption of the
"Pro-Family" Resolution by the Elizabethtown Area School Board, which
was written by  Concerned Women For America, a far right Christian
women's organization which espouses the views of the Christian
Coalition is such a case.  Hayes states, "The right wing conservatives
on the school board were put there by naive voters who weren't
aware of their hidden agenda and by people who didn't vote.
That's why it is important you know where a candidate stands on the
issues you are most interested in for all offices, from county
committee representative to President of the United States."

        Unfortunately, The Christian Coalitions voter guides, as well as
similar local publications, will not help voters discern where
candidates stand on many of the important issues facing our county
and our country.   According to the Interfaith Alliance, the Christian
Coalition leaders have  publicly opposed the Family and Medical
Leave Act and raising the Minimum Wage.  The Christian Coalition
has supported legislation which included cuts in student loans, cuts
in medicaid and medicare,  and higher taxes for families making
under $28,000 by cutting the Earned Income Tax Credit.  Most of
these issues will NOT be addressed by the voter's guides as part of
their "pro-family" agenda which are distributed through many of the
area churches.

        Because these churches are under even stricter 501(c)(3) IRS
Guidelines than the Christian Coalition, churches may not engage in
any form of partisan electoral politics. It is possible that churches
distributing these partisan guides to elect the most conservative
Republicans to office, will find themselves no longer tax exempt.
Roll Call, a weekly political newspaper reported last April that the
IRS is already investigating 30 charities for inappropriate politicking.
If the IRS rules that the voter guides are partisan, churches can NOT
distribute them without breaking the law, and they will risk losing
their tax exempt status .

        The Interfaith Alliance and The Alliance for Tolerance and
Freedom believe that all issues should be addressed as part of any
political discussion, and we seek to provide that voice.  Retired
minister and Lancaster native, Rev. Abram Sangrey states, "The
goals of the Interfaith Alliance provide a correspondence to my 45
year's lifetime, abbreviated, diversified, ecumenical, Church ministry
and Christian Service; and affirm convincingly my continuing
reliance upon divine guidance."
(*end*)

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