Issue of Farrakhan 'endorsement' of Obama doesn't deserve answer
A spokeswoman for the president has evaded a question from Les Kinsolving, WND's correspondent at the White House, about Nation of Islam chief Louis Farrakhan's praise for Sen. Barack Obama, a Democratic presidential hopeful, at a Muslim religious event.
"I think we're just going to steer clear of that one," White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said. "Move on to your next question; hurry up."
"Do you want to evade that?" asked Kinsolving.
"I do. So go on to your next one," Perino said. 
Kinsolving had sparked the evasion with this question:
"The AP reports from Chicago that 20,000 people attending the Nation of Islam's Savior's Day spent nearly two hours hearing Louis Farrakhan spend most of his speech praising Sen. Obama as 'the hope of the entire world who can lift America from her fall.' And my question. Does the president believe that any religious organization's tax exemption should allow such endorsement of any political candidate?"
Under the Johnson Amendment, pastors and leaders of tax-exempt 501(c)3 religious organizations in the United States, such as the Nation of Islam, are prohibited for actually endorsing or condemning an individual candidate, although they are allowed to address moral issues.
The report said Farrakhan "never outrightly endorsed Obama" but he did spend "most of the nearly two-hour speech praising the Illinois senator."
"This young man is the hope of the entire world that America will change and be made better," Farrakhan said of Obama. "This young man is capturing audiences of black and brown and red and yellow. If you look at Barack Obama's audiences and look at the effect of his words, those people are being transformed."
The report said Farrakhan compared Obama to the Nation of Islam's founder, Fard Muhammad, who according to organization doctrine was the earthly manifestation of Allah.
"A black man with a white mother became a savior to us," Farrakhan said. "A black man with a white mother could turn out to be one who can lift America from her fall."
Farrakhan also criticized Obama's competitor for the nomination, Sen. Hillary Clinton, "suggesting that she represents the politics of the past and has been engaging in dirty politics," the report said.
A spokesman for Obama told the wire service the campaign had not solicited Farrakhan's remarks.
On the Nation of Islam website, a statement soon was posted that Farrakhan "commented extensively on the U.S. presidential race, which included remarks specifically concerning the candidacy of Democratic hopeful Sen. Barack Obama. … Although the minister did speak complimentary (sic) of Sen. Obama, he said he would not tell any one of his followers how to cast their vote, but he did say they should vote 'their own self-interest.'"
The nuances of his message, however, didn't get through to many, with one major newspaper headlining its story: "Louis Farrakhan backs Obama for president at Nation of Islam convention…"
And the impact of his comments was documented by reports in the Chicago Tribune.
"After Farrakhan's speech, some Nation of Islam members such as Jabari Muhammad said Farrakhan's comments had changed their opinions of Obama," the newspaper reported. "Muhammad, who traveled from New Orleans for the convention, said he had become disenchanted with politics, until he heard Farrakhan's message.
"'I was never political because I felt like nothing changes. But, after all that Minister Farrakhan said, I'm going to look at Obama a little closer and see what he's about,'" the newspaper quoted Muhammad saying.
The problem is that the Internal Revenue Service has launched several investigations into other ministers, who are Christian, and their churches, for making similar statements.
WND reported earlier when the IRS notified Pastor Wiley Drake, who leads a Baptist church in California, he was under investigation for recommending GOP candidate Gov. Mike Huckabee.
Drake told WND he endorsed Huckabee as an individual on his own radio show, but his actions still drew the attention of someone who complained to the IRS.
WND also reported earlier when a Wichita, Kan., church was notified it was under IRS investigation because it posted messages on its marquee that dealt with a moral issue, abortion.
There, Pastor Mark Holick of Spirit One Christian Center refused to buckle. He responded to the IRS demand for information about his church that a Christian organization must talk about moral issues of the day, including abortion. He said one of the signs questioned just told of Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius' connections to the abortion industry.
"The church does not intend to engage in political intervention activity as prohibited by federal law and the United States Constitution," he told the IRS. "But the church will not stop communicating its Biblical message, even if it relates to contemporary issues in the world."
"Thus," he continued, "the church cannot agree to not engage in any activity that favors or opposes a candidate. Simply preaching the word of God on a moral issue which a candidate is opposed, may be deemed to oppose a candidate. While it is the church's policy not to oppose or endorse a candidate for office, it will not stop preaching God's word."
"The United States Constitution guarantees that Spirit One will be able to freely exercise its religion, and that Congress will not pass any law restricting that right. This is all Spirit One wants to do…"
He also provided the IRS with several dozen commands given in the Bible to the Christian church, their references, and how the church planned to implement them.
They included lifting up Jesus, rebuking sin, destroying the works of the devil, saving babies, calling a wicked city to repentance, and dozens more.
Abortion is a hot-button topic in Wichita because that is home to George Tiller, one of the premiere late-term abortionists in the world. He now is facing a variety of criminal counts brought by the state attorney general, as well as a grand jury investigation into allegations he violated state abortion laws.
Drake is being defended by the Alliance Defense Fund, which told WND the complaint against Drake and the Buena Park First Southern Baptist Church in Buena Park, Calif., isn't complicated because Drake endorsed Huckabee as an individual.
In a second question, Kinsolving asked: "As the nation's chief law enforcer, the president believes that the three million Hillary documents at the Clinton Presidential Library in Little Rock should not continue being concealed from the public, doesn't he?"
"I think that that's a matter for Hillary Clinton to answer," Perino said.
"But doesn't the president believe the public should have access to those documents, Dana?" asked Kinsolving.
"I'll let you continue to pursue that with her office," she said
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