A minister who endorses a candidate or political party from the pulpit risks losing the church's tax-exempt status. That's the law. But often in New Mexico, and elsewhere, it isn't always carefully observed.

This year, the nonprofit Rock Christian Fellowship in Española is directly challenging the ban on political campaign activity by posting a gruesome photo of the head of an aborted fetus on the outside of its building. Below the picture are the names of three Democratic candidates: (Barack) Obama, (Senate candidate Tom) Udall and (candidate for Congress, Ben Ray) Luján.

To the right is the photo of a happy, healthy baby headlined, "Life." And below that image are the names of Republican candidates: (John) McCain, (Steve) Pearce and (Dan) East. Between the two slates is the message, "You will decide."

Defending the church's decision to erect the signs, Rock Christian's pastor, Michael Naranjo, said, "I'd rather lose my 501(c)(3) (status) than lose my soul."

Naranjo admitted he "hates" the picture of the mangled fetus, but thinks "it is the fastest way to educate people on what abortion does."

The pastor encourages people to register to vote as well as to vote pro-life — permitted activities under the Internal Revenue code — but he said he is also "educating (churchgoers) on who stands pro-life and who is pro-death."

How far religious leaders can go to influence the vote is an issue that comes up during every election cycle, especially prior to presidential contests in which the candidates hold diametrically opposed positions on controversial issues such as abortion.

Four years ago, there were many reports from Northern New Mexico that priests were discouraging Catholics from voting for John Kerry because of his support of a woman's right to choose to end an unwanted pregnancy. Kerry lost the election in the state by a narrow margin — 5,988 votes — but exit polls showed only 45 percent of voters who attended worship services once a week supported Kerry compared to 54 percent for George Bush.

This year, the law against partisan political activity is again being tested.

Speaking of Rock Christian's sign, Joe Conn, a spokesman for Americans United for the Separation of Church and State, said, "I think it's a clear violation of federal tax law, which doesn't allow churches to intervene in political campaigns on behalf one group and against another group. The church's tax exemption could be at risk."

Ironically, Conn said, Naranjo could have erected the same installation in his front yard and that "would have been perfectly fine." Ministers are free to get involved in politics on their own time.

In Santa Fe, St. Anne Catholic Church has hung a 10-foot-long banner on the side of its building at the intersection of Hickox and Alicia streets saying, "Vote Pro-Life."

The banner appears to pass IRS muster because it does not mention any candidate by name. "It just makes me mad and gives me a stomach ache," said Sloan Cunningham of Santa Fe, who drove by the church recently.

"It gives pause to wonder if (those who) create these messages and hang these signs have adopted any of the unplanned, unwanted or supported the orphanages and fosters where they are housed and warehoused," she added.

An attorney who did not want her name published, also reported the banner. "I'm a Catholic," she said, "and I even found it offensive. It's disgusting."

Peter Simonson, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of New Mexico, said his organization normally opposes restricting people's ability to say what they want, but "the banner comes pretty close to the functional equivalent of express advocacy."

But Ryan Oberly, an attorney with a Chicago law firm that specializes in churches and political activity, called the case ambiguous. "If it said, 'Vote for McCain; he's pro-life,' or 'Vote for Obama; he's pro-choice,' that would be a clear violation. I understand where (the woman attorney) is coming from, but I think there are lot of good, compelling reasons why (the church) would lawfully be able to use that sign," Oberly said.

Conn said he agreed with that interpretation. "I don't think the IRS would intervene," he said. "It doesn't identify candidates. It leaves (the intent of the church) up to the interpretation of people who see it."

The idea for the banner started with a small group at St. Anne including Anton Balcombe, for whom the meaning is not ambiguous. The message, Balcombe said, is that people should "vote for John McCain and Sarah Palin because they're pro-life."

"All the other issues, including war and the economic crisis, are small change," Balcombe added. "We murder 4,000 of our own citizens every day by legalized abortion."

"Obama is 100 percent pro-abortion," said Balcombe, who displayed an identical banner to the one at St. Anne — along with a McCain sign — at the intersection of Cerrillos Road and St. Francis Drive last week. "He supports the right for people to kill their own children. We can't vote for that man."

Congress began banning political campaign activity by churches and charities more than a half century ago in a 1954 amendment to the Internal Revenue Code by then-U.S. Sen. Lyndon Johnson. As recently as 1987, it amended the language to clarify the prohibition also applied to statements that oppose candidates. Conn said the IRS has become more aggressive about enforcing the law in the last couple of election cycles because more tax-exempt groups have been getting involved in politics — even though a recent poll by LifeWay Research, a conservative Southern Baptist group, showed that 87 percent of Americans believe it is inappropriate for churches to use their resources to campaign for candidates for public office.

Under the law, churches can hold voter-registration drives, prepare and distribute election guides or even hold a nonpartisan candidate forum. They can also take positions on public-policy issues, including those that divide candidates in an election — so long as they stop short of approving or disapproving an individual candidate. And a minister can be politically active as long as it is clear he or she is speaking as a private citizen.

The Church at Pierce Creek in Binghamton, N.Y., lost its tax-exempt status in 1995 after the IRS determined it had violated federal tax law by publishing a full-page ad in USA Today in late October 1992 advising people that voting for presidential candidate Bill Clinton was a sin. The church sued in federal court to regain its tax-exempt status but lost in federal district court. A federal appellate court later upheld the ruling denying the church tax-exempt status.

Recently several dozen conservative ministers tried to prompt an IRS investigation by preaching about the merits of specific candidates during their Sunday morning services. The Sept. 28 event was promoted by the Alliance Defense Fund, a conservative legal-advocacy group that believes the law is unconstitutional. "The government can't demand that a church give up its right to tax-exempt status simply because the pastor exercises his First Amendment rights in the pulpit," Erik Stanley, senior legal counsel for the ADF, was quoted as saying.

The only New Mexico church that participated in Pulpit Freedom Sunday was Calvary Chapel in Rio Rancho.

Many local churches, on the other hand, go to great lengths to avoid risking their tax-exempt status. The United Church of Santa Fe went so far as to withdraw an invitation to state Rep. Peter Wirth, D-Santa Fe, to speak at the church after he became a candidate for the New Mexico state Senate. It also postponed an event planned by the church's Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender group with Liz Stefanics, a candidate for the Santa Fe County Commission.

"I do think churches need to be careful in this realm ... certainly not endorsing candidates or giving the idea that we endorse a particular candidate," said the Rev. Talitha Arnold.

St. Anne's banner, she said, was "a bit more blurry."

"I definitely believe that faith communities and faith leaders have a responsibility to help frame the questions and raise concerns, based on their faith understandings," Arnold said. "Where the "pro-life" sign gets tricky is that the phrase itself has come to mean very specific things, and a particular set of social/political issues in our society. I think it goes without saying that most churches, regardless of denomination, are all "for life" — in all kinds of ways. But "pro-life" means a particular stance on particular issues."

Archbishop Michael Sheehan also urges parishes to stay within the law. Every year, he issues a statement reminding Catholics of their responsibility to be informed and participate in the election in a law-abiding way. In the latest "How to Vote?" statement, he advised people to "Vote pro-life!"

A pro-life society, Sheehan said, "is one that respects the dignity of all human life, including unborn human life, and also protects the elderly and the sick from the creeping evil of euthanasia." He said the church also "affirms" stem-cell research so long as it does not harm the human embryo.

But there are many other issues to consider, Sheehan declared, such as same-sex marriage, the death penalty, concern for the poor, the treatment of inmates, immigration police and the approach to war and peace. Priests and other church leaders "are not allowed to publicly tell you who to vote for or against, but we do indeed speak to the issues such as the ones I have mentioned," Sheehan said.

Rock Christian's Naranjo, however, contends his stand is no different from that taken historically by black churches. "They've been "endorsing for years," he said, pointing out that political advocacy is only a small part of his church's activities, which also include worship, a day care center and programs for drug-and-alcohol addicts.

Naranjo, who supported the Catholic bishops who wanted to deny the sacrament of Holy Communion to Kerry, said, "My feeling is, we should be able to express ourselves about issues and candidates and where they stand on issues that are pertinent to society and the church. Faith is not something you put in your pocket and take out when you need it."

Asked whether he worried about Rock Christian's tax exemption, he said, "Frankly I don't care. Either I obey God or I obey man."

Contact Anne Constable at 986-3022 or aconstable@sfnewmexican.com.