NEWS> Bush Religiously Looking at Social Issues
- From: Gleason Sackmann <gleason@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: NetHappenings <nethappenings@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Tue, 11 Feb 2003 07:29:27 -0600
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Net Happenings - From Educational CyberPlayGround
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From: "David P. Dillard" <jwne@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Mon, 10 Feb 2003 20:28:48 -0500
NEWS: Bush Religiously Looking at Social Issues
The President has taken a Christian approach to handling the provision of
welfare and social services and wants the Federal Government funding the
church and religious group social welfare relief activities of religion
related groups that are providing them.
--------------------
Bush signs order opening 'faith-based' charity office for business
January 29, 2001
Web posted at: 7:47 p.m. EST (0047 GMT)
<http://www.cnn.com/2001/ALLPOLITICS/stories/01/29/bush.faithbased.01/>
The new president announced Monday morning the creation of a new White
House office focused solely on helping religious or "faith-based" groups
obtain federal tax dollars. The office was founded with the late-morning
signing of an executive order at the White House, following Bush's morning
meeting with a host of religious leaders.
The new White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives, Bush
said after the meeting, will report directly to the president.
"This is one of the most important initiatives that my administration will
implement," he said. "There are deep needs and real suffering in the
shadow of America's affluence. We are called by conscience to respond."
The legislative portion of the president's plan -- which would allow
religious groups to compete with secular organizations for federal dollars
to pay for after-school programs, drug treatment counseling, meal
assistance and other programs -- will be sent to Capitol Hill Tuesday,
Bush said.
---------------------
BUSH EXPANDS FAITH-BASED INITIATIVE FUNDING AS CLERGY, SUPPORTERS APPLAUD
"LEVEL PLAYING FIELD"
Web Posted: December 20, 2002
<http://www.atheists.org/flash.line/faith48.htm>
Speaking at a conference in Philadelphia, Bush told a cheering crowd of
over 1,500 ministers and other supporters that he was seeking a "level
playing field" in permitting churches and other houses of worship to
compete with secular charities in obtaining government funding for a
stunning array of outreach activities -- everything from job training to
running soup kitchens and medical clinics.
"If a charity is helping the needy, it should not matter if there is a
rabbi on the board, or a cross or a crescent on the wall, or a religious
commitment in the charter," the President declared.
At times, the conference -- sponsored by the White House Office of
Faith-Based and Community Initiatives -- resembled a political rally.
Shouts of "Tell it!" and "Oh, yes!" punctuated the boisterous applause as
Bush declared that an era of government discrimination "against religion"
was coming to an end.
----------------------
BUSH CALLS FOR CHARITY TAX CREDITS, FEDERAL OFFICE TO PROMOTE FAITH-BASED
SOCIAL PROGRAMS
Web Posted: July 23, 1999
<http://www.atheists.org/flash.line/bush2.htm>
Republican presidential candidate George W. Bush called yesterday for a
working partnership between government and religious groups to combat
social ills. Praising churches and other faith-based groups as part of the
"armies of compassion," Bush described his proposal as "the next bold step
in welfare reform."
<snip>
THE PUBLIC FUNDING OF RELIGION?
"No man shall be compelled to frequent or support any religious
worship, place or ministry whatsoever, nor shall be enforced,
restrained, molested, or burdened in his body or goods..."
-- Act for Establishing Religious Freedom
Thomas Jefferson
While religious groups do receive public funding, grants and other
government perks, such assistance is -- in theory -- not be used for the
promulgation of religious doctrine. Church-operated social outreaches
which use public monies may not require a religious litmus test for
applicants, or use the monies in any way to promote their doctrines.
Critics say that government oversight, though, is often incomplete and
that, ultimately, church groups cannot "secularize" their programs.
----------------------
A False Choice
Monday, February 10, 2003; Page A20
EDITORIAL
WITH HIS LATEST faith-based initiative, President Bush has shrewdly
fine-tuned his tactics. In his State of the Union address, the president
proposed funding $600 million worth of vouchers that addicts could use in
drug treatment programs, including religious ones. Vouchers are a method
his more savvy supporters have advocated ever since the Supreme Court
upheld the Cleveland school voucher program. The idea is that they are
easily constitutional because the addict can choose freely between a
secular drug treatment plan and a religious one, just as a parent can
choose between the neighborhood public school and a Catholic one.
But what kind of "choice" does an addict really have? Drug treatment is
usually presented as a condition of pretrial release or early parole, or
as an alternative to jail time. Most states have long waiting lists for
government-run drug treatment, which are only likely to grow after Mr.
Bush's $400 million cut in drug treatment programs in his latest budget.
Sometimes, church-run programs are the only option. In Wisconsin, a
federal judge upheld a similar voucher program. But the decision was
widely criticized for validating a false choice, because a church-run
treatment program was the only long-term option in the state, and the
parole officer had specifically recommended long-term treatment as a
condition of release.
----------------------
Faith-based charity plan has doubters
By Mike Lee and John Austin
Star-Telegram Staff Writers
<http://www.dfw.com/mld/startelegram/news/local/5142355.htm>
For more than a century, the government has been handing tax dollars to
religious groups to provide education, food and shelter for the poor.
That's how organizations such as Catholic Charities and Presbyterian Night
Shelter in Fort Worth receive much of their funding.
But President Bush's announcement of two new initiatives to promote
faith-based charities, which he reiterated during his State of the Union
address, has some people wondering whether his plan will lead to more
government aid for people who need it or will simply bring more groups to
an already picked-over table.
Another important concern, others say, is how well religious groups
account for their finances. Most churches and religious charities agree
that the best way to ensure public trust is to be as open as possible with
financial information. But a significant number of religious charities
don't follow reporting guidelines or are exempt from reporting because
they are churches, said Chris Hempe, a spokesman for the watchdog group
Wall Watchers.
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-------------------------
Leonard Hyman
Faith-based funding sneaky
<http://www.dailytrojan.com/article.do?issue=/V148/
N16&id=01-faith.16v.html>
Fitting nicely with his national crusade for "family values" and
"compassionate conversativism," President George W. Bush is now pushing
domestically for an initiative that would allow for government-endorsed
religion and federally funded discrimination, under another quaint
euphemism, "the President's Compassion Agenda."
The rhetoric surrounding the president's faith-based initiative is so
misleading as to make it sound perfectly benign, attempting merely to
eliminate "discriminatory practices" against faith-based groups seeking
federal funding. Who would dispute that religious organizations can and
do provide effective social services? Does it really matter whether the
organizations that provide food for the homeless believe in God or not? So
shouldn't the effectiveness of the organization be the determining factor
in whether or not charitable organizations receive federal funding?
Unfortunately for that flawed logic, religious organizations garnered
government funding for their social work long before Bush set foot in the
White House. The most cited example is Catholic Charities, which receives
69 percent of its budget from the government. Twenty percent of Salvation
Army's budget also comes from government sources.
What have not been funded were "pervasively sectarian" organizations,
those that made religious activity, such as proselytization, a fundamental
aspect of the social services they provide.
-----------------------------
Religious leaders divided over president's speech
02/01/2003
Religion News Service
<http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dallas/politics/
national/stories/020103dnrelbush.cf91c.html>
WASHINGTON Religious leaders reacting to President Bush's State of the
Union speech seemed generally pleased with his proposal to further address
the AIDS crisis in Africa but remained divided over his plans for
confronting Iraq as well as domestic issues relating to cloning, abortion
and faith-based groups.
-----------------------------
Faith-based groups show the lines governments straddle
by David Abrams
Staff Writer
Jan. 22, 2003
<http://www.gazette.net/200304/montgomerycty/state/140362-1.html>
Money for the program comes solely from private and corporate donations,
but the Rev. Manuel Baerga, executive director of Teen Challenge's
Maryland chapter, would not mind some help from the government.
Faith-based social service groups are at the center of a debate: whether
proposals to broaden access of faith-based programs to public money
violate the separation between church and state.
-----------------------------
Full stories may be read at the URL included with each.
Sincerely,
David Dillard
------------------------------------------------------------------------
David Dillard Research Librarian
david@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
ECP RingLeader
http://www.edu-cyberpg.com/ringleaders/davidd.html
Temple University
(215) 204 - 4584
jwne@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
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