I’m taking a stab at coining a new phrase: "pray-ola."
It’s one of those things that anyone with their eyes open could see coming a mile away. A while back I wrote about the Los Angeles church that got in trouble with the IRS after and anti-war sermon was preached there in 2004. Well, that’s only half the story. The rest takes place in a church in Philadelpha, which received a $1 million grant after the minister offered the church as the site for a major political rally in support of Bush Supreme Court nominee, Sam Alito.
I won’t even go into the reasons why this minister, who happens to be African American, is so supportive of the Bush administration because they’re so typical and have so little to do with the needs of the community he purports to serve (i.e. same-sex marriage, etc.). What I really wanted to point out here has been pretty effectively said by Dave Sirota.
So let’s get this straight – a religious institution is at risk of
losing its tax exempt status if its leader advocates ending wars. But
if its leader comes out and overtly endorses George W. Bush for
president and then uses church facilities to advocate confirming Bush’s
Supreme Court nominees, there’s no tax issue. In fact, as the New York
Times notes, the latter gets rewarded with "a $1 million grant through
the president’s new religion-based initiative."Can anyone say, hypocrisy?
Can anyone say payloa?
A bribe or a number of bribes given to an influential person in exchange for a promotion of a product or service
In this case, I call it "pray-ola."
