[Winona Online Democracy]
This has been a topic that has been pushed aside due to the circumstances we are now living in with the War on Terrorism and America living in a new and different regards, however it is an interesting topic to me. Bush's faith based social services initiative ,which would allow the government to allow religious groups to receive public funds to help solve such social problems as poverty, addiction and homelessness, hits close to home for me because I am a social work student at WSU. I realize that faith is a big thing in some people's lives and can help them overcome problems that may arise in their lives. By no means should someone's faith be overlooked. However, not everyone believes in a certain religion. And not everyone belongs to a Protestant religion. I feel that giving special aid to faith based social service organizations would cause problems by discriminating between religious and secular agencies, between religious and nonreligious individuals, and when hiring, can discriminate based on the possible employee's religious affiliation. This policy also shows a lack of concern and appreciation for the social work profession in general. I feel that I have learn many valuable skills and a lage amount of knowledge regarding helping and working with people in my classes. This policy would allow people without a social work degree to essentially do social work. I also feel that by having religion be a focal point of helping, religion would be forced on those in need for assistance. I also think that this policy would put certain faiths against each other. Wasn't our country developed with the idea of a division between church and state? I know this line is not black and white, but has many gray areas, however I see this as a clear violation to this idea. Erin Benedict __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! GeoCities - quick and easy web site hosting, just $8.95/month. http://geocities.yahoo.com/ps/info1 --------------- This message was posted to Winona Online Democracy Please visit http://onlinedemocracy.winona.org to subscribe or unsubscribe All messages sent to the list must be signed with your actual name. Posting of commercial soliticitations is not allowed on this list. Report problems or questions to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
