The issue of involvement by churches in political campaigns continues to attract attention. American Atheists yesterday issued a Press Release criticizing Tennessee Democratic candidate for the U.S. Senate, Harold Ford, Jr., for filming an ad in a Baptist Church. It said that using the church as a backdrop "sends a 'divisive' message and is 'religionizing' important public policy issues."
Meanwhile, Americans United For Separation of Church and State announced a national campaign to alert churches to the requirements of the federal tax law that prohibit them from taking sides in partisan political campaigns. The letter was sent to 117,000 churches in eleven states, in reaction to efforts by those on the religious right to mobilize churches on behalf of conservative Republican candidates. In a news conference yesterday, AU executive director, Rev. Barry W. Lynn, particularly criticized the political efforts of Dr. James Dobson's organization, Focus on the Family.
