wexwimpy
August 19th 04, 04:04 PM
Bush's faith-based changes scrutinized
He has made changes without Congress' OK
Don Lattin, Chronicle Religion Writer
Tuesday, August 17, 2004
President Bush has gone "under the radar" and around the Congress to
spread his faith-based initiative throughout the federal government,
according to a new study released Monday.
The study, compiled by researchers at the Rockefeller Institute of
Government in Albany, N.Y., is one of the first comprehensive looks at
the Bush administration's efforts to redirect government grants to
churches and other faith-based groups.
"Religious organizations are now involved in government-encouraged
activities ranging from building strip malls for economic improvement
to promoting child car seats,'' the study states.
Branches in 10 agencies
Taken together, the report finds that the Bush programs "mark a major
shift in the constitutional separation of church and state."
"Few if any presidents in recent history have reached as deeply into
or as broadly across the government to implement a presidential
initiative administratively,'' said institute director Richard Nathan.
The study focuses on the White House Office of Faith-Based and
Community Initiatives, which has set up faith-based branch offices in
10 federal agencies ranging from the Department of Health and Human
Services to the Department of Veterans Affairs. Bush administration
officials say the faith- based initiative is meant to merely "level
the playing field" so churches and other religious groups can compete
for billions of dollars the federal government hands out each year
through government social service contracts.
Jim Towey, the director of the White House Office of Faith-Based and
Community Initiatives, said Monday that he hadn't had time to read the
entire study.
"But parts of it that I have read seem to lay out dark motives for
what is happening,'' Towey said in an interview with The Chronicle.
"What it shows is that the president is taking the steps he promised
he would take to end discrimination against faith-based groups.''
Religious groups such as Catholic Charities USA and Lutheran Social
Services have long gotten government funding to feed the poor, heal
the sick and house the homeless. But they were required to set up
separate nonprofit agencies to run those programs and to operate under
strict rules that forbid them to proselytize or limit hiring to
employees of a particular faith or religious denomination.
So far, Congress has resisted Bush administration proposals to rewrite
the rules and loosen long-standing restrictions against preaching in
publicly funded poverty programs.
What the new study by the Rockefeller Institute's Roundtable on
Religion and Social Welfare Policy shows is how the administration has
pushed its agenda through presidential fiat.
Study has 'point of view'
Anne Farris, a co-author of the report, said President Bush had
promoted his personal beliefs "both in ideology and deeds -- in the
workings of the federal government."
Nathan, the institute director, said the study was based on
"independent, nonpartisan research on faith-based social service."
Towey questioned the institute's motives and said they had not
interviewed him about the program he runs. "They have a point of
view," he said.
Most of the report relies on the government's own statistics and Bush
administration statements about expanding church involvement in social
welfare programs.
For example, grants given to faith-based groups by the Departments of
Health and Human Services increased 41 percent in fiscal year 2003.
The report also cites newly revised Department of Labor rules that
exempt religious organizations from provisions of the Civil Rights Act
that forbid discrimination in employment based on religion.
It also notes changes in federal regulations that now allow churches
to use federal funds to renovate buildings that are used for both
social services and religious worship.
Joe Conn, a spokesman for Americans United for the Separation of
Church and State, called the new study "very alarming."
"This administration seems obsessed with faith-based solutions for
everything,'' Conn said. "What they don't seem to worry about is the
Constitution.''
'Pray for rain'
Even the Department of Agriculture now has its own office of
faith-based initiatives, Conn noted.
"Maybe they're going to pray for rain,'' he said.
Towey said Conn and the Rockefeller Institute are overreacting to
White House efforts.
"President Bush does not want to proselytize or fund religion,'' he
said. "We're talking about things like job training and substance
abuse prevention, and opening up to small groups that have been shut
by the ACLU and a radical fringe that wants an extreme separation of
church and state.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2004/08/17/MNGLC89C1I1.DTL
Defend your civil liberties! Get information at http://www.aclu.org, become a member at http://www.aclu.org/join and get active at http://www.aclu.org/action.
He has made changes without Congress' OK
Don Lattin, Chronicle Religion Writer
Tuesday, August 17, 2004
President Bush has gone "under the radar" and around the Congress to
spread his faith-based initiative throughout the federal government,
according to a new study released Monday.
The study, compiled by researchers at the Rockefeller Institute of
Government in Albany, N.Y., is one of the first comprehensive looks at
the Bush administration's efforts to redirect government grants to
churches and other faith-based groups.
"Religious organizations are now involved in government-encouraged
activities ranging from building strip malls for economic improvement
to promoting child car seats,'' the study states.
Branches in 10 agencies
Taken together, the report finds that the Bush programs "mark a major
shift in the constitutional separation of church and state."
"Few if any presidents in recent history have reached as deeply into
or as broadly across the government to implement a presidential
initiative administratively,'' said institute director Richard Nathan.
The study focuses on the White House Office of Faith-Based and
Community Initiatives, which has set up faith-based branch offices in
10 federal agencies ranging from the Department of Health and Human
Services to the Department of Veterans Affairs. Bush administration
officials say the faith- based initiative is meant to merely "level
the playing field" so churches and other religious groups can compete
for billions of dollars the federal government hands out each year
through government social service contracts.
Jim Towey, the director of the White House Office of Faith-Based and
Community Initiatives, said Monday that he hadn't had time to read the
entire study.
"But parts of it that I have read seem to lay out dark motives for
what is happening,'' Towey said in an interview with The Chronicle.
"What it shows is that the president is taking the steps he promised
he would take to end discrimination against faith-based groups.''
Religious groups such as Catholic Charities USA and Lutheran Social
Services have long gotten government funding to feed the poor, heal
the sick and house the homeless. But they were required to set up
separate nonprofit agencies to run those programs and to operate under
strict rules that forbid them to proselytize or limit hiring to
employees of a particular faith or religious denomination.
So far, Congress has resisted Bush administration proposals to rewrite
the rules and loosen long-standing restrictions against preaching in
publicly funded poverty programs.
What the new study by the Rockefeller Institute's Roundtable on
Religion and Social Welfare Policy shows is how the administration has
pushed its agenda through presidential fiat.
Study has 'point of view'
Anne Farris, a co-author of the report, said President Bush had
promoted his personal beliefs "both in ideology and deeds -- in the
workings of the federal government."
Nathan, the institute director, said the study was based on
"independent, nonpartisan research on faith-based social service."
Towey questioned the institute's motives and said they had not
interviewed him about the program he runs. "They have a point of
view," he said.
Most of the report relies on the government's own statistics and Bush
administration statements about expanding church involvement in social
welfare programs.
For example, grants given to faith-based groups by the Departments of
Health and Human Services increased 41 percent in fiscal year 2003.
The report also cites newly revised Department of Labor rules that
exempt religious organizations from provisions of the Civil Rights Act
that forbid discrimination in employment based on religion.
It also notes changes in federal regulations that now allow churches
to use federal funds to renovate buildings that are used for both
social services and religious worship.
Joe Conn, a spokesman for Americans United for the Separation of
Church and State, called the new study "very alarming."
"This administration seems obsessed with faith-based solutions for
everything,'' Conn said. "What they don't seem to worry about is the
Constitution.''
'Pray for rain'
Even the Department of Agriculture now has its own office of
faith-based initiatives, Conn noted.
"Maybe they're going to pray for rain,'' he said.
Towey said Conn and the Rockefeller Institute are overreacting to
White House efforts.
"President Bush does not want to proselytize or fund religion,'' he
said. "We're talking about things like job training and substance
abuse prevention, and opening up to small groups that have been shut
by the ACLU and a radical fringe that wants an extreme separation of
church and state.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2004/08/17/MNGLC89C1I1.DTL
Defend your civil liberties! Get information at http://www.aclu.org, become a member at http://www.aclu.org/join and get active at http://www.aclu.org/action.