Federally Funded Discrimination?
 |
Sarah Burrows is a Legislative Assistant at the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism. She is a graduate of George Washington University |
According to a new Government Accountability Office report released earlier this week by Representatives George Miller and Pete Stark, the Bush Administration is not offering adequate safeguards
The report also found that the White House has no way of knowing if its faith-based initiative is actually achieving its goals. Although over $2.1 billion in federal grants were awarded to faith-based organizations in 2005 alone, there are few measurable standards in place to effectively evaluate the program
Representative Stark, the senior Democrat on the House Ways and Leans Health Subcommittee, said, "The Bush administration has failed to develop standards to verify that faith-based organizations aren't using federal funds to pay for inherently religious activity or to provide services on the basis of religion. Taxpayers shouldn't have to take it on faith that programs without standards for success are having a measurable impact."
Comments
Great job Sarah! Unfortunately, Rep. Stark fails the first test of knowing his audience. The research conducted by Mark Chaves, professor at the University of Arizona, indicates that liberal religious groups tend to be the largest recipients and seekers of federal funding for faith-based social services. So, do we know if the liberals are using W's money for ill or good?
Chaves research indicates that 41% of liberal religious groups, versus just 28% of conservative religious groups, are interested in direct federal funding. Maybe the RAC could do some additional research to verify if this is really the case.
If this is the case, what does that say about the liberals penchant for wanting a strong wall to separate church and state?
Posted by: Stan Cowan | July 19, 2006 8:24 PM
The record of accountability of the Bush administration provides no assurance of sound judgment and valid principles. Its egregious attempts to keep Terry Schiavo on life support while opposing potentially life-saving embryonic stem cell research and its failure to assess results of the billions of dollars it spends on abstinence-only programs, which other sources say are ineffective, are examples of this administration's pandering to a small shrill minority while ignoring the best interests of the American people.
Posted by: Shirley Rish | July 21, 2006 11:15 AM
Since it seem that tax-funded faith based initiatives are here to stay, we must insist on standards. It should be clear that if an institution of faith accepts public moneys, it waives certain exemptions that the law normally affords to religious institutions.
Chief among these are exemptions from civil rights and non-discrimination laws. The current flashpoint is homosexuality, though it certainly is not limited to this. For instance, once an institution accepts public monies, it should not be allowed to discriminate against gays and lesbians, or deny benefits to same sex partners as would otherwise be required by law. This rule would apply not only to employment, but also to the services offered by the underlying program! If this is so onerous, then the institution in question need not accept public monies!
The same goes for setting various religious standards. For instance, a program under Orthodox Jewish auspices would not be allowed to serve (or hire) Jews only, nor would it be able to insist that its Jewish employees, (or its Jewish clients) keep kosher homes. It would also not be allowed to set different standards for Jews and non-Jews under most circumstances.
Posted by: Shlomo | July 22, 2006 6:58 PM