Missouri’s The Pathway editor investigated by IRS

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — A watchdog group that advocates strict separation of church and state has called on the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to investigate whether a Missouri Baptist newspaper editor violated tax law by endorsing two candidates for political office in a column.

Americans United for Separation of Church and State filed a complaint Aug. 23 citing a May 8 commentary in The Pathway, news journal of the Missouri Baptist Convention (MBC), in which Editor Don Hinkle observed that Southern Baptists’ theology drives them generally toward more conservative policies espoused by Republicans.

Americans United Executive Director Barry Lynn said in a letter to Lois Lerner, director of the exempt organizations division of the IRS, that despite Hinkle’s characterization of his views as “personal,” federal tax law does not permit employees of tax-exempt organizations to use official publications to intervene in elections.