Americans United for the Separation of Church and State filed formal complaints with the IRS on Monday targeting six churches that violated an IRS rule stipulating that churches that take advantage of the IRS’ tax breaks need to refrain from partisan politics or else pay their share of taxes.

Americans United identified the six churches based on media reports.

Pastor Jody Hice of Bethlehem Baptist Church in Bethlehem, Ga., said that McCain “holds more to a biblical world view” on issues of abortion and homosexuality and urged his congregation to vote for McCain and not Sen. Barack Obama.

Pastor Gus Booth of Warroad Community Church in Warroad, Minn., told his congregation, “We need to vote for the most righteous of candidates. And it doesn’t take a brain surgeon to figure that out. The most righteous is John McCain.” He said that homosexuality is immoral and Obama’s refusal to denounce homosexuality and abortion is “evil, wicked and immoral. Obama condones what the Bible condemns,” he said.

Booth was a delegate to the Republican National Convention (RNC) and had previously endorsed McCain from the pulpit.

Pastor Paul Blair of Fairview Baptist Church in Edmond, Okla., said from the pulpit, “As a Christian and as an American citizen, I will be voting for John McCain.”

Pastor Luke Emrich of New Life Church in West Bend, Wis., referenced abortion and said to his church, “I’m telling you straight up I would choose life. I would cast a vote for John McCain and Sarah Palin.” On Obama he said, “If a candidate supports something that is evil and wicked from a biblical perspective, then I have the right to call out the wickedness, and I have the right to say this is what this person stands for — this is wrong.”

The Rev. Wiley Drake of First Southern Baptist Church, Buena Park, Calif., came out strongly against Obama and said, “I am angry because the government and the IRS and some Christians have taken away the rights of pastors. I have a right to endorse anybody I doggone well please. And if they don’t like that, too bad. … According to my Bible and in my opinion, there is no way in the world a Christian can vote for Barack Hussein Obama. Mr. Obama is not standing up for anything that is tradition in America.”

He then endorsed Alan Keyes of the American Independent Party. “I’m here to tell you that I personally endorse Alan Keyes as our next president of the United States,” said Drake. “There’s no way a Christian can vote for Barack Obama. You could vote for John McCain. I want you to vote your conscience. Let the Bible act as your guide.”

One pastor missed his flight and couldn’t participate, although it’s likely that Bishop Robert Smith Sr. of Word of Outreach Center in Little Rock, Ark., would have endorsed McCain. He was a delegate to the Republican National Convention.

The Rev. Francis Pultro of Calvary Chapel, Philadelphia, Pa., told his congregation, “As Christians, it’s clear we should vote for John McCain. He is the only candidate I believe a Christian can vote for.”

The Rev. Barry W. Lynn, executive director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, said that pastors who violated the law should be ashamed.

“These pastors flagrantly violated the law and now must deal with the consequences,” said Lynn. “This is one of the most appalling Religious Right gambits I’ve ever seen. Church leaders are supposed to tend to Americans’ spiritual needs, not behave like partisan political hacks. I urge the IRS to act swiftly in these cases.”

He continued, “A pastor who knowingly violates federal tax law is setting a poor example for his or her congregation. Every pastor who took part in this stunt ought to be ashamed.”

It must have seemed an attractive idea at the time. But a much-heralded push to organize mass violations of an IRS ban on political endorsements in churches seems to be attracting few takers. And the IRS has already pledged to review complaints about any churches that do participate.

The so-called “Pulpit Initiative” (earlier MnIndy post) was launched by the Alliance Defense Fund, an offshoot of James (Focus on the Family) Dobson’s evangelical empire. As the Arizona-based organization’s website explains, this coming Sunday, September 28, is the target date for the effort. When IRS complaints ensue, ADF’s strategy is then to take individual cases to court in an attempt to overturn the IRS rule.

But as zero hour approaches, there are signs that few churches care to be so cavalier about their nonprofit tax status. Last week ADF officials pledged in an email response to Minnesota Independent, “We will have updated information regarding the pastors participating in the ‘Pulpit Initiative’ on our website… beginning on September 22nd, a week before Pulpit Freedom Sunday when the pastors give their messages.”

Three days after that self-appointed deadline, however, there is still no accounting of participants on the ADF website, however, and two subsequent emails to ADF official Erik Stanley asking for the update have gone unanswered. I phoned over a dozen metro-area evangelical churches to ask if any were planning to participate; so far, none has even called back. (I’ll update if any do.)

The Internal Revenue Service, meanwhile, said on Tuesday that it will review complaints over “Pulpit Freedom Sunday,” as the event is also called. Several former IRS employees have filed a complaint with their former employer alleging wrongdoing by ADF and participating churches. The prospect of legal action is of course no discouragement to ADF; it’s the plan. Churches, however, seem to be less sanguine about the idea.

Americans United for Separation of Church and State said they will be reporting churches who violate the law to the IRS. Said Rev. Barry W. Lynn, executive director of Americans United, “Pastors who are thinking of joining the ADF’s gambit still have time to change their minds and I urge them to do so.”

One Minnesota church pastor, however, has been very vocal about his plans to violate the law. Pastor Gus Booth of Warroad Community Church–located in a small town near the Canadian border–says he has no qualms about endorsing John McCain from the pulpit and in fact has been doing so all summer. Booth was also a delegate to the Republican National Convention.

Booth told National Public Radio on Wednesday, “Bottom line is, I’m a spiritual leader in this community, and spiritual leaders need to make decisions. We need to lead spiritually, and we need to be able to speak about the moral issues of the day. And right now, the moral issues of today are also the political issues of today.”

But not all religious leaders agree that mixing religion and politics is a good idea. The Anti-Defamation League criticized the move on Wednesday.

“Ministers and pastors, in their personal capacity, already have every right to support or oppose candidates for public office,” said Abraham H. Foxman, national director for ADL. “They can speak out on political issues, and promote voter participation and voter education initiatives. But politicizing churches coerces congregants, distorts the political system and poses a serious threat to religious liberty.”