Roundtable Religion

There's been a long-standing debate about the appropriate lines between religion and politicking. Reverend RUSSELL JOHNSON (Senior Pastor, Fairfield Christian Church, Lancaster, OH)said in a recent interview that separation of church and state is in the Soviet constitution that the Bolsheviks wrote. Separation of church and state is not written a single time in the American Constitution. Over the past 20 years, Pastor Johnson has transformed the tiny Fairfield Christian congregation into a megachurch bigger than a Wal-Mart superstore in the cornfields outside Columbus, Ohio. Pastor Johnson is always protesting something: liberal teachers, left-wing media, leftist preachers, gay marriage, teaching evolution and so on. To many in the state of Ohio, Pastor Johnson is someone who played an important role in the close victory of President Bush in 2004. Among Christian conservatives, he is a hero. To others, he's taken the pulpit too far. In a highly unusual move, over 60 members of the clergy of a variety of Christian and Jewish denominations filed a complaint with the IRS accusing Johnson and another pastor of improperly using their churches in political activities. This begs the question, should churches be involved to the level they are in governmental affairs and political affairs? Upon further investigation by the lawyers handling this case, they intended to influence voters in the election. Pastor Johnson is accused of inviting a state candidate to church events, praising his stand against gay marriage and abortion, and not inviting his opponent who is a liberal. In an amazingly arrogant retort, this is what the pastor had to say: The Religious Left that's not really sure the Bible is true, not really sure who Jesus is, not really sure that he rose from the dead -- they're advocating homosexual marriages and advocating abortion rights. I have never gone to the IRS to try to have their nonprofit status revoked for pretending to be a church.