Jeb! and His Faith-Based Initiatives
When the Constitution of Florida expilcitly states "No revenue of the state or any political subdivision or agency thereof shall ever be taken from the public treasury directly or indirectly in aid of any church, sect, or religious denomination or in aid of any sectarian institution," it is truly amazing the Jeb! continues to try to give public funds to faith-based organizations amid criticism and court battles.
"The plan boils down to something like dumping the poor on the church steps one day, leaving a small bag of money there the next day and praying the two of them get together," said Barry Lynn, executive director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State of Washington, D.C.
Ron Klein of Delray Beach has a valid argument:
"You're creating legal precedent that any religious organization may come forward and receive this funding," said Sen. Ron Klein, D-Delray Beach.
"You can't start saying it's OK for Christian and Jewish organizations but it's not OK for the Taliban, or radical religious organizations whose practices many people would find reprehensible."
Jeb! is trying to model Preznit Bush's White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives, which we can see is going swimmingly:
In California, for example, disciples of the Rev. Sung Myung Moon, the controversial leader of the Unification Church, received federal grants to conduct marriage and celibacy training through the Department of Health and Human Services.
Pat Robertson's Operation Blessing International received a $500,000 federal Compassion Capital Fund grant, half of which he keeps and half for which he acts as an intermediary.
"Here's a guy who's banned any religion but his own," said Lynn, who is involved in a lawsuit against a faith-based prison in Iowa similar to Florida's. "And he's supposed to distribute the money to other religious groups.
That's ludicrous."
Why does our government have so much trouble with that separation-of-church-and-state-thingy?
"The plan boils down to something like dumping the poor on the church steps one day, leaving a small bag of money there the next day and praying the two of them get together," said Barry Lynn, executive director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State of Washington, D.C.
Ron Klein of Delray Beach has a valid argument:
"You're creating legal precedent that any religious organization may come forward and receive this funding," said Sen. Ron Klein, D-Delray Beach.
"You can't start saying it's OK for Christian and Jewish organizations but it's not OK for the Taliban, or radical religious organizations whose practices many people would find reprehensible."
Jeb! is trying to model Preznit Bush's White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives, which we can see is going swimmingly:
In California, for example, disciples of the Rev. Sung Myung Moon, the controversial leader of the Unification Church, received federal grants to conduct marriage and celibacy training through the Department of Health and Human Services.
Pat Robertson's Operation Blessing International received a $500,000 federal Compassion Capital Fund grant, half of which he keeps and half for which he acts as an intermediary.
"Here's a guy who's banned any religion but his own," said Lynn, who is involved in a lawsuit against a faith-based prison in Iowa similar to Florida's. "And he's supposed to distribute the money to other religious groups.
That's ludicrous."
Why does our government have so much trouble with that separation-of-church-and-state-thingy?
posted by cookie christine @ 1/03/2005
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