> -----Original Message----- > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]On > Behalf Of The Fool
... > The Bush administration wants to give religious organizations access to > federal housing money that could be used to erect or refurbish buildings > where religious activities are held, so long as the groups also provide > social services in those buildings. Wow -- if taxes end up being raised to support construction of enormous church structures erected mainly to show off the power of its leaders to the people, we certainly will have failed to learn from the past. Those who do not remember Santayana are doomed to repeat history... > But federal housing officials say the proposal would eliminate bias > against religious groups that offer social services like homeless > shelters and soup kitchens. "We are just leveling the playing field. This > is part of an overall effort to end discrimination against faith-based > organizations," said Housing and Urban Development Department spokeswoman > Diane Tomb. While we're at it, why don't we use tax dollars to fund the media, too. Oh, wait, we do, by protecting the media giants from competition. Where did this administration forget that it's dangerous to concentrate power? Or do they think that humanity suddenly became immune to corruption? They don't seem to have that attitude toward their opponents, only themselves. How will they ensure that church funding will not just go to those institutions that are politically aligned with the in-power party? That would be quite at odds with the way things go in secular political funding! Where would they stand if the majority (or even a large minority) of this federal money goes to liberal churches? Will they set up these programs to prevent or discourage that? > "We don't have all the answers right now but we are on the right track > .. to removing some of these barriers," Hauser said. Is that a pun? The "right" track? ;-) > Religious groups that take HUD money would retain their independence and > be allowed to express their beliefs as long as the funds do not directly > support activities such as worship or religious instruction. Aw, come on. Anybody who's done an organizational budget knows what kind of perfectly legitimate accounting will allow this money to leak pretty far across that line. Non-profits deal with restricted funds in all sorts of creative ways. So we'll have *auditors* determining what is or is not worship??? Obviously, I'm strongly in favor of social services; the non-profit where I've been a board member for a decade has received quite a bit of federal funding, though the Commerce Department. And I'm quite involved in my church. Both are values-driven organizations whose missions rise above the financial bottom line. But I'm quite happy seeing them kept completely separate from each other and wouldn't want either one to become dependent on public funding. Nick _______________________________________________ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
