I came across this article online the other day. It's about Episcopalian All Saints Church in Pasadena, where Pastor George Regas gave a sermon in 2004, the weekend before the presidential election, that sent an anti-war message. While Regas endorsed neither candidate, he strongly criticized the war in Iraq and said that Jesus would have told Bush that his preemptive war strategy in Iraq "has led to disaster." A few sentences of his sermon were reprinted in the L.A. Times, and in 2005, the church received a letter from the IRS informing them that they were being investigated to potentially strip the church of its tax exempt status. Apparently, Federal law prohibits tax-exempt organizations, including churches, from intervening in political campaigns and elections. It's not like the church was out organizing an anti-Bush rally. In fact, of the two presidential candidates, Regas said that "good people of profound faith" could support either one. I knew that churches had tax exempt status but didn't realize it was a quid pro quo agreement with the government. It seems that First Amendment rights must be given up in exchange for the no-tax agreement.

As you can see, Wally was very happy to see me home on Sunday afternoon. He was a little needy for the rest of the day.


The song of the day is "All These Things That I Have Done" by The Killers off their 2004 album Hot Fuss. As you can see, I still like current, alternative music, but it seems like bands and songs that I like, that sound fresh, are few and far between. This is certainly one of those bands. I love this album and especially this song. I read on Wikipedia that there's a rivalry between The Killers and Fall Out Boy, and am trying to imagine a gang-like ruble between two small groups of skinny, eye-linered rock and roll boys.