By Derek PriceWith Permission When The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints recently announced it would jump into California politics by supporting a constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage, many Mormons - including myself - were appalled. Some members were upset that their tithing donations would be used to support a political agenda with which they disagree. Others were disappointed to see the church once again veer from its hollow claim of "political neutrality." And some found it laughable that the LDS church, which was founded by people with famously liberal marriage arrangements, is now taking a "one man, one woman" stance. Isn't that a little ironic? Really, though, this isn't just an issue about Mormons, gays and the California Constitution. Aside from the unpleasant thought of individual religious groups trying to force their doctrine upon all people through the enactment of civil law, there's another reason churches should stay out of politics. It's all about the money.
You see, when churches decide to turn themselves into de facto political committees, they flout America's campaign finance laws that are designed to keep the flow of political money transparent and limited in scope. While politically active churches may comply with the letter of the law, they definitely don't comply with the spirit. That gives them an unfair advantage. If I were to donate to a political action committee or 527 group, for example, there are three major drawbacks compared with giving to a church. One, my donation would not be tax-deductible. Two, my money would be precisely tracked - and made public - because of campaign reporting requirements. And three, the law limits how much money I'm allowed to give. Churches, though, don't have those limitations. When I give to a politically active church, I get a tax break. The money is also collected and spent in complete secrecy without any public tracking or accountability, and there's no limit to how much I can donate. That's a little unfair, don't you think? That's why whenever churches decide to play the political game - which I wish would never happen - they ought to at least abide by the same rules as everyone else. If they don't, they turn themselves into a money-laundering operation whereby contributions are made completely anonymously, then spent in unknown ways to influence public policy. No matter where you stand on the issue of marriage freedom, it's wrong for any organization to flout America's already lax campaign finance rules by operating in darkness. Let's hope the Mormon church sees the light. The church should either abide by the same restrictions as all political groups or - gasp! - let its members make up their own minds about which political issues to support. --- * DEREK PRICE is a newspaper editor and lifelong Mormon living in Alabama.