AANEWS for Friday, January 7, 2005 -- Night Owl Edition

[Synnical]

{Is it within the guidelines to post this here?}

AS CONGRESS RETURNS, BUSH SEEKS BLANK CHECK, STATE FUNDING
TO ADVANCE FAITH-BASED INITIATIVE
Over One Billion $$ So Far For Churches, Religious Groups

Is the worst yet to come?

Within days of being sworn in as President in January, 2000, George W.
Bush signed a series of Executive Orders to create wide sweeping
reforms that allow the government to fund religion-based social
services.

Now, basking in the victory of his November re-election, Mr. Bush is
engineering another startling alteration in the relationship between
government and organized religion. Not only is the president
continuing his effort to tap federal coffers on behalf of his
controversial program, he is looking for ways to divert some of the
$40 billion in funds Washington hands out yearly to the various states
to subsidize faith-based social programs.

The plan has been in the works for months. News about the latest
effort to tap state coffers, though, came after a recent Associated
Press story revealed that in 2003, "faith-based" organizations
received $1.17 billion from federal agencies. The grants had not been
listed in the line-by-line federal budget compendium, but were
revealed only after AP demanded a series of documents that were
reluctantly provided by the White House.

Even this money, though, which critics say imposes a "religion tax" on
the country and blurs the line separating government and religion, is
not enough for Jim Towey, director of the White House Office of
Faith-Based and Community Initiatives. Towey and other have spent
months hosting conferences throughout the country where
representatives of churches, mosques, temples and other religious
groups attend workshops on how to tap the largesse of the federal and
state bureaucracies to provide social services and even fund the
construction of buildings.

In addition, WHOFBCI officials and President Bush have huddled in
private meetings with state leaders and governors to encourage their
participation.

"We're on the sunrise side of the mountain," Towey gushed in an
interview with AP writer Laura Meckler.

State officials were initially suspect of the White House effort to
tap their coffers. Many are dealing with heavy budget deficits, and
express concerns about the hefty start-up costs associated with new
social service providers. But within the past six months, the number
of states operating faith-based liaison offices to reach out to the
religious community has increased from 15 to 21. Mr. Towey told AP
that this number includes states with "many Democrats."

Meanwhile, a survey of new grants to faith-based organizations shows
that the program is moving ahead to compete with many areas of social
service that up until now have been entirely or mostly secular.

* While Governor of Texas, George Bush was enamored with the ideas of
Marvin Olasky, a university journalism professor who is considered the
leading architect of the faith-based revolution. Bush engineered
state grants for groups like Teen Challenge that employ a strict,
almost cult-like program to address problems like drug and alcohol
abuse. This philosophy that behaviors can be modified by having
clients "find Jesus" is now being promoted with federal funds. One
scheme, "Access to Recovery," provides drug users with vouchers that
can be used for religion-based programs and therapies.

* In Florida, 90 different religion-based organizations have benefited
from the Bush faith-based initiative. They include groups promoting
abstinence-only programs, housing construction, and work with the
homeless. Lutheran Social Services of Northeast Florida, for
instance, received $1 million in public funds for a refugee program,
bringing its total over the past five years to $3.65 million in
various government grants.

According to the Sun-Sentinel newspaper, the controversial Head Start
program has handed out $24.9 million to religious groups like the
Mount Zion Apostolic Child Development Center in West Palm Beach.
Meanwhile, Jewish Community Services and Catholic Charities have
applied for grants made available through Miami-Dade County.

Five religious groups, including the College Park Baptist Church
received over $25.1 million to operate housing projects for seniors.

* With the skyrocketing costs of the faith-based initiative, critics
point to more evidence that the programs are blurring the line
separating religion and government.

WHOFBCI Director Jim Towey last week repeated the cant that
"government money is not to fund religious activities," but added:
"This is a culture change in the way government provides social
services. There's always going to be a very delicate balance."

The "balance," though, is clearly tipping.

A New Haven, Conn. outreach known as Women in Search of Health
Education and Spirituality received nearly $500,000 to help AIDS
patients deal with drug and alcohol abuse. The program includes what
official say is a "daily affirmation" where participants may read from
religious texts. Director Patricia Lafayette told reporters that
spirituality is emphasized.

Another program administered by the AIDS Interfaith Network includes
prayer.

"We pray anytime someone asks," said director Joyce Poole. "Some
clients walk in and say they need a prayer and a hug and we stop
whatever we're doing for them."

Across the country, the growth of the faith-based initiative is
encouraging religious groups to move beyond the restrictions that
originally governed how they must operate and administer public funds.
Churches or other organizations accepting tax money to operate social
services previously had to separate entities distinct from their
religious mission. Many formed non-profit groups that, at least on
paper, appeared to be secular. Religious literature and symbols were
often removed.

No longer, however.

"We feel much more at ease," declared Louis Wonderly of the Luther
House Foundation of Pennsylvania. "We won't have to say, 'Oh, my
goodness, is it terrible to have a cross hanging on the bulletin
board." The group was given over $10 million to construct apartment
housing for low-income elderly clients.

Ironically, Congress has never passed legislation authorizing any of
the Bush faith-based initiative. The President created the WHOFBCI by
signing Executive Orders, one of which directed five major federal
departments to begin "reaching out" to churches, mosques, temples and
other religious organizations and encourage them to begin operating
social services. Another Executive Order expanded this to include
more federal agencies, making available up to $60 billion in potential
grant money. A bill to broaden the funding for the faith-based
initiative is likely to be introduced in the current congressional
session.

"With the stroke of a pen, George Bush has bypassed Congress and the
U.S. Supreme Court in directing over a billion dollars into the
coffers of religious groups," warned Ellen Johnson, president of
American Atheists. "We are seeing a major government-led assault on
the separation of church and state, and the imposition of a 'Religion
Tax' on the American people."

For further information:

http://www.atheists.org/flash.line/faithlob.htm
(Archive of articles on the faith-based initiative)

[fshrink]

1. Meanwhile, at the

so-called "Democratic" party, one wonders who is going to take over the political apparatus. Let's sum this up: we have an imbecile at the controls, with a clique of neo-nazis (this is not even an exaggeration) as advisors (at least), the entire world is looking at us with fear and pity, "elections" has lost its meaning, virtually every constitutional right, except of course tath to bear arms, is virtually gone, knowledge is sent back about 1,000 years back, the working class is screwed up to the gills, the landlords are laughing all the way to the bank, the fascists don't even feel they have to hide and that's just a sample. I've never been a believer in the "democrats", but this time around, that's it. Letting this happen without a fight is without excuse.