If Jesus wants to endorse a candidate, the IRS would like to talk to him.

IRS exams found nearly three out of four churches, charities and other civic groups suspected of having violated restraints on political activity in the 2004 election actually did so, the agency said Friday.

The vast majority of charities and churches followed the law, but the examinations found a "disturbing" amount of political intervention in the 2004 elections, IRS Commissioner Mark Everson said.

"It's disturbing not because it's pervasive, but because it has the potential to really grow and have a very bad impact on the integrity of charities and churches," Everson said in an interview.

This has always really bothered me. For one thing it is so easy for these churches to just insert the name of their favored candidate into the sermon and presented it as if this person is "God's candidate". The church members, who trust their pastors implicitly, act like sheep and vote enmasse for the candidate endorsed by their church.

This is a form of mind control and it should not be part of the political process in this country. It is one thing for undecided individuals to seek opinions from friends in their church, and quite another for the leader of their church to tell them who to vote for.

So if the church is an organized political organization then it should no longer be tax exempt.

"Pay up Mr. Falwell!"