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******************************************** Seeking God on the Taxpayer's Dime by Chuck Muth December 4, 2002 Lord help me, I think I agree with the atheist...sort of. The American Center for Law & Justice, along with 22 members of Congress, has asked a federal court to throw out a lawsuit by Michael Newdow which claims that two taxpayer-funded congressional chaplains are an unconstitutional breach of the separation of church and state. You remember Mike Newdow, don't you? He's the chap who somehow persuaded a three-judge panel on San Francisco's 9th Circuit Court to ban the words "under God" from the Pledge of Allegiance, contending it was some kind of unconstitutional government establishment of religion. What a crock. Anyway, ACLJ and the 22 members of Congress point out that a 1983 Supreme Court ruling, Marsh v. Chambers, clearly ruled that paying chaplains with taxpayer funds is NOT establishing a religion. And, of course, it's not. That's just silly. On the other hand, that still doesn't make it right. Which brings me to Davey Crocket (huh?). In a story titled "Not Yours to Give" - originally published in "The Life of Colonel David Crockett" by Edward Sylvester Ellis - the Tennessee congressman objected to a particular bill to appropriate money for the "widow of a distinguished naval officer." "We have the right as individuals, to give away as much of our own money as we please in charity; but as members of Congress we have no right to appropriate a dollar of the public money," said Crockett to his colleagues. What a right-wing extremist! "I cannot vote for this bill," he continued, "but I will give one week's pay to the object, and if every member of Congress will do the same, it will amount to more than the bill asks." Were it not for Crockett's principled opposition, the bill likely would have passed unanimously. It's quite easy to spend someone else's money, especially on widows and orphans. (By the way, the full story can be found on Texas Rep. Ron Paul's website at: http://www.house.gov/paul/nytg.htm) Now, fast-forward to the 21st century, where the taxpayers are funding those two full-time chaplains. This surely should be objectionable; not because of the absurd argument that they reflect an establishment of religion, but because...get this...it's not the congressmen's money they are giving to these clergymen. It's yours. For the record, the two chaplains are receiving a combined salary of $278,000 of taxpayer money per year. Sure, it's a drop in the bucket, but that's not the point. If we're ever going to get Congress to stop trading in the currency of OPM - Other People's Money - this is as good a place to start as any. If a member of Congress needs the services of a minister, he or she should simply do what the rest of us do: Drive down to the local church. It's not like they don't exist in the nation's capital. A quick search of the Washington, D.C., Yellow Pages found some 884 churches listed for 92 different denominations. And I'm absolutely certain that an unlimited number of clergy from those churches would be honored to VOLUNTEER their time to open up each session of Congress with an appropriate prayer. But if Congress-folks still think they need full-time, on-the-premises clergy to be at their beck-and-call 24/7...fine. Then do what Col. Crockett suggested: Give one week's pay to the chaplains out of their OWN pockets. And at the current salary level for today's congressional representatives, that would be about five times what the chaplains are being paid right now. Hoo-hah! Or...what the congressional chaplains could do is what their private sector colleagues do every Sunday: Pass a collection plate. Then again, that's probably not a very good idea in this case. Since so many members of Congress believe "other people's money" is really their money, for every dollar that one congressman would put into the basket, another would just take it back out. Under the circumstances, by the time the collection plate got to the end of the room, not only would it be empty - it would be in DEFICIT! Maybe some things SHOULD just be left alone. # # # Mr. Muth is executive director of the American Conservative Union and president of the Goldwater Club. He can be reached at www.chuckmuth.com Chuck Muth P.O. Box 19893 Alexandria, VA 22320 (443) 310-4760 [EMAIL PROTECTED]
