[Dryerase] AGR--Bush Faith Based Initiatives

[Shawn G]

Asheville Global Report
www.agrnews.org

Reprinting permitted for non-profit use and to members of the Dryerase news 
wire.

Bush circumvents Congress to enact Faith Based Initiatives
By Shawn Gaynor

Asheville, North Carolina, Dec. 18 (AGR)—In what the White House has 
characterized as “a fresh start and bold new approach to government’s role 
in helping those in need,” President Bush has initiated, through executive 
order, much of his Faith Based Initiative that has failed to gain 
Congressional support for over a year.
The President took the steps last week after attending a Philadelphia 
conference on the plan attended by 1,500 religious charities where he gave a 
speech on the program. Underlining who the Presidential initiative is aimed 
at, the President gave a special welcome to local preacher Franklin Graham, 
who has espoused what some characterize as bigoted and intolerant views 
regarding Islam.
The orders allow religious organizations that are social service providers 
to accept federal grant funds. Many groups fear that this will lead to 
widespread, government-sanctioned, discrimination in employment and service 
provision.
“Congress wouldn’t accept taxpayer-funded religious discrimination last year 
-- and President Bush knew it wouldn’t in 2003 either,” said Christopher 
Anders, an ACLU Legislative Counsel. “But rather than compromise and work 
within the political process, the President has decided to circumvent public 
and congressional opinion in his quest to allow religious discrimination in 
the workplace.”
According to the ACLU the plan violates the separation of church and state 
by forcing taxpayers to support religious ministries. In classic Orwellian 
doublespeak, during his speech Bush repeatedly characterized the separation 
of church and state as “a pattern of discrimination,” against religious 
organizations.
“I have directed specific action in several federal agencies with a history 
of discrimination against faith-based groups,” Bush assured the Philadelphia 
audience.
As an example of the behavior that would be validated by the President’s 
plan, the ACLU pointed to a Georgia lawsuit filed against the United 
Methodist Children’s Home in Decatur. In it, a Jewish psychotherapist named 
Alan Yorker is demanding damages because the home explicitly denied him 
employment based on his religion — even after it admitted that he was the 
most qualified candidate. In fact, an administrator freely told Yorker that 
he was rejected because he is Jewish and told another applicant that resumes 
with Jewish names are automatically thrown out. 
Other groups worry the initiative will be used to discriminate against 
people based on their sexual orientation.
“In order to preserve our democracy, the separation of church and state must 
be maintained,” said Sean Cahill, director of the Policy Institute of the 
National Gay and Lesbian Task Force. “The wholesale privatization and 
desecularization of the United States’ social service infrastructure will be 
devastating for the gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender community. This 
also threatens basic principles of diversity and cultural pluralism, 
church-state separation, and individual rights that are at the core of the 
American political system.”
The executive orders signed this week included opening “faith based 
initiative” offices in the Department of Agriculture, and for USAID, opening 
the specter of government funded missionary work to third world nations. The 
order offered no insight into how the new offices would distribute money to 
church charities.
Also among the myriad of concerns over the program are that the government 
would discriminate against some religious groups for “preaching hate,” while 
turning a blind eye to the intolerance expressed by others. Bush has 
indicated the Nation of Islam would not be eligible for funds for it’s 
preaching of hate. The administration has also voiced concerns about funds 
going to Wiccan groups. The plan outline no guide lines for what constitutes 
hateful preaching and is almost certain to ignore religious leaders like 
Fred Phelps, Jimmy Swaggart.
The President had previously ordered the opening of Faith Based Initiative 
offices in five executive departments. Those offices had handed out their 
first round of grants to faith based institutions this fall. Grant 
recipients included Pat Robertson, founder of the of the right-wing 
Christian Coalition, who received $500,000 dollars for Operation Blessing 
International (a charity he founded) in the first round of taxpayer money 
handed out to religious groups.




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