Persecuted Christians--USA: Franklin Graham's new way to raise $$ at Samaritan's Purse

[mnhtnbb]

I discovered that his outfit--Samaritan's Purse--had a fundraising page to support
poor little persecuted and now jailed Kim Davis. An individual had posted it--
originally with a $10,000 goal, but has lowered the goal overnight to $2500. Not
very successful so far--only raised $140. But what galls me is that Samaritan's
Purse is a 501(c)(3) organization--supposedly a non-profit dedicated to charitable
works. Huh. Since when was funding people fighting enforcement of US law
in the US a charitable activity?

So, this morning when I was following up with that Kim Davis page, I decided to click
over to the Samaritan's Purse home page and was blown away to find a section
of the page devoted to

Persecuted Christians—USA
Your gift will help meet the needs of persecuted Christians in the United States as they stand strong for biblical values and face financial distress or other legal burdens inflicted by courts or government-imposed orthodoxy.

http://www.samaritanspurse.org/donation-items/persecuted-christians-usa/

Yep, they are raising
funds specifically to fight--generically--the US government enforcing laws
related to separation of church and state. So, I sent an e-mail to Americans United
for Separation of Church and State to let them know. Interestingly enough, Americans
United does NOT include either Franklin Graham or Samaritan's Purse on its list
of right wing organizations that it is monitoring.

I'll update with any answer I get from AU about how/why a religious group can raise funds--and give tax deductions--to fight
enforcement of US law. Maybe I'm just not clear on what constitutes 'political activity', but it sure does seem to me to
cross the line.