The Nexus

It wasn’t the first time Heather Wilcox (12) was honked at or flipped off. But as she stood on the Rancho Peñasquitos Boulevard sidewalk waving a “Yes on Prop 8” sign, she was egged for the first time.

“I’m glad that it wasn’t my first time waving signs, because I certainly wouldn’t have gone back so many times if it was,” she said.

Wilcox, in the weeks leading up to the Nov. 4 election, spent her free time on weekdays and weekends alike with her parents and members of her church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, passing out fliers, waving signs and even walking door-to-door advocating Proposition 8.

Despite the four percent victory margin in the passage of Proposition 8, new debates have surfaced as to whether it was acceptable, legally and morally, for churches to have played a role in helping pass Proposition 8.

“[Churches] shouldn’t be talking about politics,” Megan Sullivan (10), who attends the Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Catholic Church, said. “I don’t think it’s the church’s place to influence the public mind on those issues. They shouldn’t be doing this, because they’re getting into state matters.”

Sullivan said that her church had urged its members to vote yes on Proposition 8 after every mass.

“We would have announcements [where] a person would tell us to go get bumper stickers or signs and put them in our front lawns and go support [Proposition 8],” she said. “Our priest would advocate it too, and [we had] booths outside our church giving us information on this proposition.”

According to the IRS Tax Guide for Churches and Religious Organizations, churches may not attempt to influence politics or legislation if it maintains a tax-exempt status. However, certain exceptions apply.

Although endorsements of candidates are not allowed, churches may speak about propositions. According to Rodrigo Valdivia of the Diocese of San Diego, federal law stipulates that non-profit organizations may not devote a substantial proportion of their expenses to political activity.

“That the California Government Fair Political Practices Act requires expense reporting for political activity by [non-profit] organizations is a clear indication that [non-profit] organizations may engage in political activity,” Valdivia said. “Parishes and diocesan offices painstakingly complied with this requirement during the campaign.”

While churches are legally permitted to participate in certain areas of politics, some parishioners said that churches have a moral obligation as well. Dan Carpenter, a resident of Scripps Ranch who attends the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and participated in the Nov. 3 Proposition 8 rally on Black Mountain Road, said that churches have an obligation to uphold their beliefs.

“It’s the purpose of churches to speak out on issues, especially moral issues,” he said. “On issues of wisdom, like whether we should have alcohol on the beach or who would be the best sheriff, my church does not advocate positions. But on issues of moral and spiritual truth, it is the responsibility of church leaders to speak out. In this case, in my view and the view of my church, it’s a moral issue and it’s important for religious leaders to speak out on it.”

Deacon Ron Diem of the Saint Gregory the Great Catholic Church said that it is the church’s responsibility to act what it preaches. He said that the “Yes on Prop 8” signs on his church’s lawns and emails he sent out persuading parishioners to vote yes accurately represented the church’s mission.

“The church deals in faith and morals,” Diem said. “Through scriptures and through tradition, [the church] is in a sense a prophetic voice and a moral compass, or tries to be anyway. By not participating, we’re doing a grave injustice to what we would consider our purpose here: to help spread the word of God and to help understand what it teaches. By simply doing nothing, we’re doing something against what we believe.”

However, Sullivan said that the announcements made after mass at her church telling parishioners to display pro-Proposition 8 bumper stickers or signs blurred the line separating church and state.

“Because of the separation of church and state, our church does not have the right to [support Proposition 8],” she said. “I don’t support Proposition 8 in the first place and it gets on my nerves that they would try to convince parishioners to go and support traditional marriage.”

If it were ruled that the churches actually had overstepped their boundaries, Diem said that he and the church would not regret their actions.

“If we really believe something, then the tax status should not have that great of an influence so that it silences us,” he said. “It would hurt [if the tax-exempt status were taken away], but sometimes you do have to do what you have to do to stand up for yourself.”

Although Carpenter and Diem said the churches were simply upholding their beliefs, Sullivan said that churches’ participation in supporting Proposition 8 has lowered her opinion of her church.

“I try not to think about their political beliefs,” Sullivan said. “I go for the religious experience, but I did lose a bit of respect for my church when they tried to tell everyone to vote yes on [Proposition] 8.”