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Just Say No! To Faith Based Initiatives. by James Dunn President Bush’s plan to use churches for the delivery of tax-supported services is profoundly wrong-headed. It scares those of us who for decades have been at ministry without government meddling or political buzz words. What’s wrong with faith-based initiatives? Well, to start with, if they depended on government funding, religious leaders would have to watch what they said, lest the money dry up. John Wimberly of Western Presbyterian Church in Washington, D.C., spoke about this in the Christian Century, (2/8/03): "In Washington D.C. the local government has given money to religious groups for years to run various programs. Watching this for over 20 years, I have noticed that the churches receiving funds from... government become mysteriously silent when the government or the mayor does something that is clearly wrong. Why do they go silent? They are worried that they will lose funding. If we allow government funding of programs related to religious institutions, the religious institutions will be compromised and co-opted. Perhaps this is why some politicians push the idea so vigorously. Won’t their lives be easier if they can manipulate all of us with strings tied to the funding of our programs?" There are more reasons for us to run, screaming, from the notion of faith-based initiatives, and here are a few of them: Faith-based initiatives violate the Bill of Rights, denying religious liberty to those who depend upon church-state separation to protect it. Thomas Jefferson said, "To compel a man to furnish contributions of money for the propagation of opinions which he disbelieves, is sinful and tyrannical." It is foolish to expect believers to separate worship from work. One cannot separate ministry from evangelism. It may be called proselytization. Christians call it being a loving witness. It’s in our genes. If government attempts to force churches to make that division, it does in fact "change the character" of and "compromise the prophetic role" of the church, no matter how often and loudly Bush and his enforcers say that it will not do so. Churches can, do and must discriminate in hiring and helping, in choosing those who work for them. You need not ask how this would affect gays, unwed single mothers and countless others outside majority beliefs in their community. Faith-based initiatives cheat the religious caregivers who play by the rules. Legitimate programs honor the United States Supreme Court’s settled distinction between "religiously affiliated" and "pervasively sectarian" ministries. It’s the law. None of Bush’s revisionist proposals require that distinction; hence, these initiatives can make an end run around the nation’s most respected and effective charities. Federal programs do not discriminate against law-abiding charities now: Catholic Charities, for instance, does great work with tax dollars. Faith-based initiatives undermine established professional standards in the delivery of services community. Therapists, chaplains, alcohol and drug abuse counselors, foster parents and people helpers of all sorts are presently accountable. They have associations, training, certification, licensing, state laws that weed out the frauds and incompetents. Tax monies flowing into churches with few or no strings attached do more harm than good. Faith-based initiatives outrage all of us who know the evil that can be done behind a religious mask. Both Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell have rightly warned against starting down the slippery slope that forces government to be the judge between "good religions" and "bad religions." Where is religious freedom if the state claims that power? Many of us are uncomfortable with that. With "faith-based initiatives," every cult from Hell’s Angels to Heaven’s Gate will be using our taxes to do their versions of good. Faith-based initiatives divide faith’s institutions. Human nature being what it is, government monies set up a competitive context for always-scarce dollars. The weakest little church piglet will be the last at the tax money teat. Divisiveness would dominate in an already devilishly divided world. Faith-based initiatives diminish the overall impact for good. Against all Bush assumptions, there is no empirical evidence that such religiously-oriented programs are more effective than others. Even the Center for Research on Religion and Urban Civil Society of Mr. Bush’s first faith-based czar, John J. DiIlulio, has expressed grave doubts and spooky statistics. We must trust government to govern in the name of all its people. Let us pray that Mr. Bush is enlightened by that wisdom, not political advantage, and end his call for faith-based initiatives. James Dunn, the retired Executive Director of the Baptist Joint Committee on Public Affairs, is currently visiting professor of Christianity and Public Policy at Wake Forest University Divinity School in Winston-Salem, N.C. This text is a transcript of a broadcast available at www.tompaine.com
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