The views expressed by contributors are their own and not the view of The Hill

Nonprofit Violates Tax Law, Calls Romney Satan

by Barry W. Lynn, Executive Director, Americans United for the Separation of Church and State - 06/03/07 10:00 AM ET

Bill Keller, an evangelist in St. Petersburg, Fla., says voting for Mitt Romney is the same as voting for Satan.

In a message posted on his Web site, Liveprayer.com, Keller wrote, “If you vote for Mitt Romney, you are voting for Satan! This message today is not about Mitt Romney. Romney is an unashamed and proud member of the Mormon cult founded by a murdering polygamist pedophile named Joseph Smith nearly 200 years ago…. This message is about the top Christian leaders in our nation who are supporting this cult members [sic] quest to become the next President of the United States.

A reasonable person reading this message would conclude that Keller does not want Romney to be the next president. The problem is, he used the resources of a tax-exempt religious group, Bill Keller Ministries, to spread this message over the internet. I believe this is a clear violation of federal tax law. The Internal Revenue Service Web site says that non-profit groups are “absolutely prohibited from directly or indirectly participating in, or intervening in, any political campaign on behalf of (or in opposition to) any candidate for elective public office.