Saturday, September 28, 1996

Religious Leaders Ask Churches to Refuse Christian Coalition Voting Guide

By RENAE MERLE
Associated Press

AUSTIN - The Christian Coalition has turned the nation's churches into "partisan political battlegrounds" and its efforts to distribute millions of voter guides should be stopped, the Texas Faith Network said Friday.

The organization of religious leaders contended that the voter guides are thinly veiled as nonpartisan but clearly support Republicans. They said the guides should be left out of churches.

The Faith Network, a part of the Texas Freedom Network, was formed to counter the ideas of the religious right.

"We are sending letters to the pastors and people of Texas churches urging them to consider refusing the invitation to distribute the voter guide which may be illegal, dishonest and divisive in their nature," said the Rev. Larry Bethune, pastor of the University Baptist Church.

The letter, which the network said would be distributed to thousands of churches, asks religious leaders to determine whether the "Christian Coalition voter guides is a fair, faithful, and legal activity for you and your church."

The Federal Election Commission filed suit against the national coalition in July for allegedly supporting and promoting several candidates, which the FEC said would be a violation of its tax-exempt nonpartisan status.

Christian Coalition representatives said there is nothing partisan about the voting guides.

"What we do is present how the candidates feel about the issues and take a look at their record," said Monica Hilderbrandt, spokeswoman with the national office of the Christian Coalition. "They have been looked over by lawyers. There is literally no way that thing can be partisan.

"A conservative and a liberal could look at this guide and come away with different ideas of who they want to vote for," Ms. Hilderbrandt said.

William Ford, a spokesman for the Christian Coalition in Fort Worth, said they had received a good response from churches about the guide and expect to distribute 3 million.

"We don't lean toward one political party. In fact there are some in the Republican Party who wish we go away," he said.

Ford also questioned the Faith Network's statements. Since it was formed to counter the religious right, he said, "that automatically in my mind makes anything that they say suspect. I can't understand why they get as much ink as they do."