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written and presented by Clark Moeller
This has been presented in dramatic form to groups in PA, NY, MD, UT during 2004 and 2005.
April 14, 2005 edition
Good evening.
President Bush's faith-based grant (FBG) initiative
is a remarkable event in America's 218 year history.
I have a unique historical perspective to foresee
the effect these grants will have.
My perspective starts at the beginning ... of recorded history.
After the Fall, when I was unceremoniously expelled from Heaven,
I began plotting my revenge.
At first, I encouraged Eve's budding curiosity.
Then I toyed with Job's faith, - - just to annoy God.
But this needling was trivial and unsatisfying,
I hungered for a ruinous revenge
more befitting my rightful status in the firmament.
Then one night while brooding at the edge of the abyss,
inhaling the sulfuric vapors, I had a startling thought:
I would have all of God's precious faithful leave their houses of worship, leave of their own volition."
That was the revenge I had been seeking.
I embraced it as my diabolical mission.
To accomplish this, I would leave no trace of my involvement
Not a finger print, not a nick from my razor-sharp tail.
I am Satan and I am no fool.
My mentor would be that famous Homeric hero, clever Odysseus.
He understood men's weaknesses and how to manipulate these
to his advantage.
Odysseus exploited the gullibility of King Priam of Troy
with brilliant guile.
He offered the king a gift of peace to end their 10 year war.
This gift was a beautifully crafted, monumental, wooden horse,
.... sized just right for the pride of King Priam.
Gullible King Priam opened wide Troy's gates in good faith.
The Trojans pulled their gift Horse into their high-walled city,
celebrating the end of the war.
In the belly of that Trojan Horse
crouched tight-lipped Greek warriors ...listening.
When all was quiet in the dead of night,
they dropped, as if on cats' paws, into sleeping Troy,
....sword blades drawn for slaughter ...glittering in the moon light.
Troy was sacked and burned all night.
In the "rosy fingered dawn,"
the Greeks set sail for home across the Aegean,
their ships "rich in gold" rode low in the "wine dark sea."1
Following the example of successful Odysseus,
I have been exploiting men's weaknesses:
- their betrayals
- their inclinations to take the lazy way,
- the seduction of easy money,
- the abuses of power of their institutions.
For example, in the 1400s, I exploited the greed and lust for power
of the Roman Catholic Church with my own gift Horse
draped in ermine-lined Papal robes.
- Inside? ..... Indulgences to expunge sins,
priced just right for the adulterer, ... as well as the snitch.2
- Inside for sale? .... the ecclesiastical offices of priest and bishop.
- To fund the "Godly work" of these priests and bishops,
inside were poor peasants taxed bone-thin,
their children hollow-eyed with hunger.
- To stifle any questions about the fearful power of the Church, inside was the Papal inquisition torturing old women
suspected of being witches.
By the 1500s, the consequences of these abuses
were a disaster for the Vatican.
The revulsion of the faithful erupted into the Protestant Reformation.
Many disillusioned Catholics abandoned their church.
Bloody religious wars about absolute truths swept Europe.
- Protestants sacked Catholic churches.
- Catholics burned Protestant cities.
- And terrified heretics hiding in tall haystacks
were skewered with long lances.
As the Reformation destroyed the Vatican's monopoly
on ecclesiastical power,
I saw another opportunity to advance my mission.
I crafted a new gift Horse painted the pious color of gold
to stimulate expectations among poor Protestant congregations
of financial security and protection from a wounded, angry Vatican.
Stowed in my new Horse were promises of:
- state-established religion ... for selected Protestant churches
- the largess ...... of state financing for these congregations.
- and, comfortable civil-service job security for their clergy.
The seduction of these rich promises opened wide church doors.
Once inside, my horse deposited on the beautifully tiled sanctuary floors
an invoice for the delivery on its promises:
- civil service regulations to govern the clergy,
- government spending limitations for the congregation,
- and pointed political guidance for revising ecclesiastical policies.
These controls ..... stilled the fiery Sunday morning sermons
criticizing government corruption.
These muted the clergies' homilies
about the wealthy man and the eye of a needle.
By the mid 20th Century, the moral authority of these churches
was a faded memory.
- Church attendance was as low as 5% throughout Europe.3
- Those still in the pews were old and bent.
- Many churches had closed.
- The tourists keep open the rest.
In the end, it was the disillusioned faithful who emptied
state-controlled churches, emptied the pews of their own volition.
They are the ones who had skeptically asked
- Was their church still a sanctuary for religious contemplation
or had it become a hotbed of hidden, political agendas
fueled by the corrupting influence of government funding?
- Were their clergy still guided by a moral compass,
or were they reacting to political triangulations?
Their answers reflected the distrust
that closed the doors of so many churches
and accomplished my mission in European.
Because I was busy in Europe,
I did not turn my attention to the New World until mid 20th Century.
Then I learned that way back in 1791
the concepts of separating church from state
and state from church4 became the law of the land when Congress ratified the First Amendment to the Constitution, which states in part:
"Congress shall make no laws respecting
an establishment of religion;
or prohibiting the free exercise thereof."
It was obvious to me that C-SS had changed the age-old pattern
of church & state entanglements and related violence
that I had relied on for my sweeping success in Europe.
C-SS freed religions from the grip of government control and
prevented any religion from seizing that control
to suppress the freedom of other faiths.
This innovation of religious liberty for all
stimulated religious vitality in America
unequaled in most other countries:
- church membership had increased from
17% in colonial America5 to 62% by mid 20th Century.6
- The number of denominations had grown from 11 to over 2000.7
- There were over 300,000 religious congregations
professing every shade of religious conviction.
Such religious diversity in the past has usually entertained me
with scores of bloody religious pogroms.
But with C-SS, the U.S. has achieved a distressing record
- of maintaining peace among its religious communities and
- peace between these communities and your government.
Clearly, C-SS posed a threat to accomplishing my mission.
I needed a new plan. ...... What should that be?
...... Ahhh....... of course! ................
Now, all I needed was a bit more information.
I eavesdropped on the prayers of the most entrepreneurial clergy
....and heard their deepest worries, "only about 47% of the U.S. population actually attended houses of worship."8
When they slept, I seeded their dreams with reassurances,
"you get them all to attend your houses of worship
but you must first destroy C-SS,
that ungodly manifestation of their secular society.
With righteous indignation many religious leaders
began:
- lobbying for prayer in public schools,
- railing against evolution in school curricula,
- posting the 10 Commandments in government buildings,
- splitting denominations and purging congregations over issues
- of Biblical accuracy,
- female clergy,
- reproductive freedom,
- and everything related to ........ homosexuality.9
Much to the consternation of these clergy,
their self-righteous, holier-than-thou attitude was polarizing the faithful.
By the year 2000,
- church membership had declined by 6%,10
- church attendance had dropped by 33%,11
- church contributions sank by 38%,12
- student enrollment in the nation's largest system of parochial schools plummeted by 44%, from 4.5 million to 2 million.13
My plan was gaining traction!
Once again I eavesdropped on the prayers of the clergy
and heard them plead in desperation for heavenly intervention.
But it was I who was there for them.
To each one I whispered:
- "You alone have the absolute truth.
- All your clergy colleagues are apostates, heretics,
and some are even closet .... secular humanists.
- Now, prove your faith by smiting C-SS.
With mounting anger they renewed their denunciations
on radio and TV:
- "There is no such thing as C-SS."14
- "American is a Christian nation."15
- "Only Christianity can solve the problems facing our nation."16
This steady drumbeat divided your nation,
...... the ideal conditions for phase II of my plan.
I introduced a gift horse just for America.
Inside were promises to "level" the playing field for religion with:
- presidential executive orders to distribute faith-based grants,17
- Supreme Court decisions to approve parochial school vouchers,18 and
- Congressional bills19 and Republican campaign strategies
to allow congregations to engage in the hard-ball politics
of election campaigning without losing their tax-exempt status.20
My gift horse was welcomed into many houses of worship,
particularly by those who claim to be God's most faithful servants:
- President George W. Bush
- Senator Rick Santorum of PA,
- Dr. Dobson of Focus on the Family, and many others.
Excuse me for grinning.... as Odysseus did
when those Greek sword blades glittered in the moon light.
A dribble of seductive faith-based grants
seeped through the wall-of-separation in 2001
as President Bush doled these out to religious institutions,
- encouraged them to proselytize with these tax dollars,21
- encouraged them, with a wink, to ignore civil rights laws
prohibiting religious discrimination with your money.22
These First Amendment violations were encouraged despite
a Supreme Court's decision that states,
"No tax in any amount,
large or small,
can be levied to support any religious activities or institutions, whatever they may be called,
or whatever form they may adopt
to teach or practice religion."23
By 2003, that dribble of FBGs had swelled to a flood
as religious organizations that traditionally were not eligible for tax funding were now authorized by the Bush administration as eligible applicants24
for over $8 billion of federal grants.25
By 2004, over $1.7 billion had been distributed.
Don't blame only the Bush Administration
for undermining C-SS.
- Many religious leaders have stood in line
to make deals for the social security of FBGs.26
- These grants are the easy path for most clergy
who hate begging their flock for more donations.
I have seen many deals like these in my long experience
of skulking around dark alleys.
A drug dealer .... a willing buyer.
..... to hell with the law,
......the First Amendment be damned!
The powerful seduction of your tax money hooks many.
The path to this addiction is no mystery.
It's paved with good intentions:
- save the sinners in prison
- heal the drug addicted
- house the homeless
- repair the old roof on St. Basils27
- and, .... exploit the seductive glow of government gold
to attract new congregation members. (WINK)
However, the FBG regulations do not reveal the strings28
I attach to the monkeys on the backs of those religious leaders
who get comfortably hooked on your tax money.
And I am pulling every string.
For example, traditionally in America each house of worship
has had control over its ecclesiastical business and
its programs of good intentions.
But with FBGs this control is now eroding
as government regulations take hold.29
In much the same way, fiscal audits of vouchers and FBGs
are transforming the once-private activities of religions institutions
into public records,
- available to the media,
- featured on the front pages of newspapers,
- the fodder for juicy gossip in bars and beauty parlors.
FBGs are challenging to administer.
As professionals are hired to do the heavy lifting,
they tend to push aside, ....... ever so politely,
devoted volunteers who enliven each congregation's fellowship.
As volunteers feel superfluous,
many will look elsewhere for organizations that need them.
Other parishioners will question,
"My taxes are now funding our church's good intentions.
Why should I pay twice with contributions?"
As collection plates got lighter, I sensed rising panic.
I eavesdropped on FB administrators who were:
- fretting about their first FBG applications,
- others worried being refunded and complained about
all the time they had spent on contract compliance.
I revealed myself to them in the guise of a federal-grant director
" Friends, don't take those grant applications so seriously.
- To apply you no longer need to be incorporated, be a 501c3,
or even have a church board or board of directors.30
- All you have to do - is wear a cross to get funded."
As to the contract compliance,
all my subordinates down the chain- of-command,
have gotten the word – give those FBG a pass when you ‘monitor.'
- So, you can fudge your financial quarterly reporting
with impunity.
- Use your creativity to "document" your program's progress.
- And ignore the contract specifications about respecting C-SS"31
Many of the FBG administrators were delighted
to trade in their integrity to get your tax money
without the hard work of accounting.
Soon after,
- contract abuses,
- First Amendment violations,
- and voucher fraud
multiplied in AZ, TX, WI, MI, OH, and Bradford County, PA.32
And, as far as I know, none of the FBG administrators have complained
when the government began treating their church
as a state-established religion:
-by giving them more FB funding33
- rejecting FBG applications from the administration's critics,
- misplacing the applications from denominations unpopular
among likely-voters,34
- adding to the Home Land Security's watch-list
those congregations that witness for peace
or carry signs ridiculing the administration when marching in protest.
This religious discrimination by government35
will sour the sweet contentment of many congregations
with bitter resentment for which there is no redress36
without the protection of C-SS.
Nevertheless, it is C-SS that many faith-based organizations
are betraying by illegally proselytizing with government funding.
Now some faithful are growing skeptical. They are asking,
"is our congregation's moral compass spinning?"
Oh great Odysseus, if you are watching,
I know you are enjoying the brilliance of my guile.
I have never attacked the faith of God's faithful
to achieve my mission of emptying houses of worship.
It is their mistrust that I nurture.
If any of you have ever been betrayed,
you know the bitter taste of its toxin
that dissolves trust, poisons affection,
and arouses angry suspicions about the betrayer's family and relations.
In much the same way,
betraying CSS will undermine trust in other civil rights
because all civil rights are interrelated.37
For example,
- As religious liberty is eroded,
people become cautious about what they say
because the free exercise of religion and free speech are connected.
- As our public speech becomes self-restricted,
fewer people will talk openly with the press.
- With less information,
the usefulness of a free press is weakened.
- A weaker press will be less capable of sounding the alarm
when the independence of the judiciary is in jeopardy.
- Without a independent judiciary,
due process is quietly smothered
behind the closed doors of national security.
- Without due process to ensure fair elections
democracy itself will become a faded memory.
Don't shake your head in disbelief
as if this chain reaction can't happen.
The last I heard, the laws of cause and effect have not been suspended.
And, please don't look at ME as if I'm the culprit.
All I have related is self-inflicted.
Come on now, let's see just a glimmer of aesthetic appreciation.
You are watching an artist at work!
Not a finger print, not a nick of my razor sharp tail!
Raise your glasses, join me in toasts of appreciation
to those who are still essential to the completion
of my diabolical mission in America.
First, to President George W. Bush for his ambitious start
in reestablishing the age-old tradition of state-controlled churches.
How long do I have to wait for the religious violence of bloody pogroms?
And now, please toast the legions of clergy and their congregations
who remain complacently silent as their freedom of religion is being gutted.
Join me, as I give them thanks for their quiet acquiescence.
May they live long, languid lives of self-absorbed contentment
until they awaken .... screaming on the rack
... to find they are the heretics in the next inquisition.
###
Endnotes:
1 Homer, The Odyssey
2 Arnold, Dr. Jack L., The Roman Catholic Church of the Middle Ages: Reformation Men and Theology, page 4. (Website: www. Thirdmill.org/files/english/html/ch/Ch.arnold.rmt.1.html)
Also search on the web for "indulgences" for many other sources.)
3 Hoge, Warren, "Archbishop of Canterbury Enthroned," The New York Times, 28 February 2003, p. A10.
4 Moeller, Clark, Church-State Separation: A Keystone to Peace (Towanda, PA: Pennsylvania Alliance for Democracy, 2004), pp. 39-41.
5 Stark, Rodney, and Finke, Roger, Acts of Faith: Explaining the Human Side of Religion, (Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 2000), p. 225.
6 Stark, Rodney, and Finke, Roger, Acts of Faith: Explaining the Human Side of Religion, (Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 2000), p. 257.
7 Moeller, Clark, Church-State Separation: A Keystone to Peace (Towanda, PA: Pennsylvania Alliance for Democracy, 2004), see index to references to "church abuses to government funding," p. 46. (Text notes 10 denominations as Christian + a Jewish denomination = 11.) This document can be downloaded from: www.padnet.org/CSSmoeller2.pdf.
8 Putnam, Robert, Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community (New York, NY: Simon & Schuster, 2000), . 71
9 Moeller, Clark, Church-State Separation: A Keystone to Peace (Towanda, PA: Pennsylvania Alliance for Democracy, 2004), pp. 1-2, 22-26. This document can be down loaded from www.padnet.org/CSSmoeller2.pdf.
10 Putnam, Robert, Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community (New York, NY: Simon & Schuster, 2000), p. 70.
11 Putnam, Robert, Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community (New York, NY: Simon & Schuster, 2000), p. 70.
12 Moeller, Clark, Church-State Separation: A Keystone to Peace (Towanda, PA: Pennsylvania Alliance for Democracy, 2004), p. 66, n189. This document can be down loaded from: www.padnet.org/CSSmoeller2.pdf.
13 Moeller, Clark, Church-State Separation: A Keystone to Peace (Towanda, PA: Pennsylvania Alliance for Democracy, 2004), p. 31. See endnotes 189 and 190. This document can be down loaded from: www.padnet.org/CSSmoeller2.pdf.
14 Benen, Steve, "Church, State and the 108th Congress," Church & State, Vol. 55, No 11, December 2002, p. 5.
15 Menendez, Albert J., Three Voices of Extremism: Charles Colson, James Dobson, D. James Kennedy (Silver Springs, MD: Americans for Religious Liberty, 1997), 69-74; According to Barna Group, a consulting/survey firm, about 33% of Americans want a constitutional amendment declaring America a Christian nation. Source: AU Bulletin, Church & State, September 2004, p. 3.
16 Moeller, Clark, Church-State Separation: A Keystone to Peace (Towanda, PA: Pennsylvania Alliance for Democracy, 2004), p. 21. This document can be down loaded from www.padnet.org/CSSmoeller2.pdf.
17 The political context for government funding of social services was radically changed when President George W. Bush signed Executive Order #13279 on Dec. 16, 2002. This executive order removed the regulatory restrictions that had prevented government funding of non 501c3 religions organizations. The executive order directed federal agencies to revise policies consistent with the President=s interpretation. As federal agencies complied with this executive order, over $8 billion dollars were made available to these newly approved religious institutions for various purposes. Because of President Bush=s Executive Order #13279, federal agencies are now funding houses of worship, such as churches, religious institutions, and so-called faith-based organizations some of which do not even have church boards or boards of directors.
18 Of these, one of the biggest setbacks for church-state separation was the United States Supreme Court's June 27, 2002, decision approving the use of taxes to fund religious schools. This 5 to 4 decision in Zelman v. Simmons-Harris, "...was undeniably the bombshell of the court's 2001-2002 term," stated an editorial in The New York Times. It continued, "... by upholding a [Cleveland voucher] program in which 96 percent of the [student] participants attend religious schools, the court removed a number of bricks from the wall separating church and state." Also see Moeller, Clark, Church-State Separation: A Keystone to Peace (Towanda, PA: Pennsylvania Alliance for Democracy, 2004), p. 62, n169. This document can be down loaded from www.padnet.org/CSSmoeller2.pdf.
19 H.R. 235, House of Worship Free Speech Restoration Act, Sponsor Rep. Walter B. Jones, (R, NC) Source: AU Bulletin, Church & State, September 2004, p. 3.
20 H.R. 4520: the "American Jobs Creation Act of 2004," Its provision, "Safe Harbor for Churches": would revise IRS tax conditions for churches allowing church leaders to "unintentionally" endorse or oppose candidates up to three times per year." Introduced by U.S. Rep. William M. Thomas (R-Calif); Kirkptrick, David, "Bush Campaign Seeks Help From Thousands of Religious Congregations," The New York Times, 3 June 2004.
21 When President Bush began handing out faith-based grants, he encouraged religious organizations to proselytize with these monies. He set a tone that has had far reaching effects in undermining church-state separation. ("Bush Backs Faith-Based Program in Arkansas that Converts Jobless," Church & State, Vol. 55, No. 7, July/August 2002, p. 16.) Also see Moeller, Clark, Church-State Separation: A Keystone to Peace (Towanda, PA: Pennsylvania Alliance for Democracy, 2004), pp. 25-26. This document can be down loaded from www.padnet.org/CSSmoeller2.pdf.
22 Moeller, Clark, Church-State Separation: A Keystone to Peace (Towanda, PA: Pennsylvania Alliance for Democracy, 2004), p. 26. This document can be down loaded from: www.padnet.org/CSSmoeller2.pdf.
23 Everson v. Board of Education of Ewing Township, 330 U.S. 1, 18 (1947).
24 The political context for government funding of social services was radically changed when President George W. Bush signed Executive Order #13279 on Dec. 16, 2002. This executive order removed the regulatory restrictions that had prevented government funding of non 501c3 religions organizations. The executive order directed federal agencies to revise policies consistent with the President=s interpretation. As federal agencies complied with this executive order, over $8 billion dollars were made available to these newly approved religious institutions for various purposes. Because of President Bush=s Executive Order #13279, federal agencies are now funding houses of worship, such as churches, religious institutions, and so-called faith-based organizations some of which do not even have church boards or boards of directors.
25 Moeller, Clark, Church-State Separation: A Keystone to Peace (Towanda, PA: Pennsylvania Alliance for Democracy, 2004), p. 29. This document can be down loaded from www.padnet.org/CSSmoeller2.pdf.
26 Moeller, Clark, Church-State Separation: A Keystone to Peace (Towanda, PA: Pennsylvania Alliance for Democracy, 2004), p. 29. This document can be down loaded from www.padnet.org/CSSmoeller2.pdf.
27 Lowenstein, James, "U.S. House of Reps approve $350 K for Dushore hall [St. Basil=s Catholic Church in Dushore, PA]." The Daily Review, 9 Jan. 2004, p. 1.
28 "... as Melissa Rogers of the American Baptist Convention notes, the [government] regulatory language of the statute is "just the tip of the regulatory iceberg." Other laws effecting grants administration include the 1988 Civil Rights Restoration Act, Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, requirements to keep racial and ethnic data, fiscal record keeping and audit requirements, etc.
[Source: Rogers, Milissa, "The Wrong Way to Do It Right: Charitable Choice and Churches," in Welfare Reform and Faith-Based Organizations, Ed. D. Davis and B. Hankins, (Waco, Tex.:J. M. Dawson Institute of Church-State Studies,1999) pp. 61`-88. As cited in Tanner, Michael, "Corrupting Charity: Why Government Should Not Fund Faith-based Charties," CATO Institute Briefing Papers, No. 62, March 22, 2001, p.7]
29 >"Jaquelin Triston of the Saltation Army put it this way, 'If you can't do it the way you want, then you'll take your program and fit it into whatever they'll give you money for.' " [Source: Loconte, Joe, Seducing Social Services (Boston, MA: Pioneer Institute for Public Policy Research, 1997) p. 2. As cited in Tanner, Michael, "Corrupting Charity: Why Government Should Not Fund Faith-based Charties," CATO Institute Briefing Papers, No. 62, March 22, 2001, p.9]
30 Blain, Laura, and Moeller, Clark, The Performance of The Firm Foundation of Bradford County: A study of the performance of a faith-based organization and the quality of oversight provided by the responsible state and local agencies. (Towanda, PA, Bradford County Alliance for Democracy, 2004), pp. A2-1 to A1-3. This can be downloaded from www.bcad.info.
31 Blain, Laura, and Moeller, Clark, The Performance of The Firm Foundation of Bradford County: A study of the performance of a faith-based organization and the quality of oversight provided by the responsible state and local agencies. (Towanda, PA, Bradford County Alliance for Democracy, 2004), This can be downloaded from www.bcad.info
32 Moeller, Clark, Church-State Separation: A Keystone to Peace (Towanda, PA: Pennsylvania Alliance for Democracy, 2004). See index, p. 75 to "church abuses of government funds." This document can be down loaded from: www.padnet.org/CSSmoeller2.pdf.; Moeller v. Bradford County filed in federal court 2/17/05 (www.bcad.info); Blain, Laura, and Moeller, Clark, The Performance of The Firm Foundation of Bradford County: A study of the performance of a faith-based organization and the quality of oversight provided by the responsible state and local agencies. (Towanda, PA, Bradford County Alliance for Democracy, 2004). This can be downloaded from www.bcad.info; Fager, Chuck, Health Ministry Fraud Alleged, Christianity Today, March 9, 2001; Trexler, Phil, "Minister Family Liable In Suit," Akron Beacon Journal, 26 May 2004. Associated Press, "Judge Halts Grants Over Religion," The New York Times, 16 January 2005: as of 1/16/05 see www.foxsearchlight.com/sideways/index_nyt.html.
33 Rob Boston, "Philadelphia Church That Endorced Bush Gets $1 Million 'faith-based' Grant," Americans United for Separation of Church And State, Washington DC, news release, 6/23/04.
34 Moeller, Clark, Church-State Separation: A Keystone to Peace (Towanda, PA: Pennsylvania Alliance for Democracy, 2004), p. 25-26. This document can be down loaded from www.padnet.org/CSSmoeller2.pdf.
35 >Stephen Burger, executive director of the International Union of Gospel Missions, points out the difficulty of defining what terms like "proselytizing" mean and warns, "As well intentioned as Congress is in passing [Charitable Choice], it will be the government bureaucrats and civil-libertarian lawyers who enforce it."
(Source: Burger, Stephen, "New Hope for Gospel Missions: The Devil's in the Details," USA Today, 3 September 1996, as cited in Tanner, Michael, "Corrupting Charity: Why Government Should Not Fund Faith-based Charties," CATO Institute Briefing Papers, No. 62, March 22, 2001, p.7)
36 >During the 2000 presidential election campaign, the then-candidate Bush was asked if he would be willing to provide funds to the Nation of Islam. He replied, "I don't see how we can allow public dollars to fund programs where spite and hate is the core of the message." Of course, the meaning of "hate" is subjective. Some observers have accused Catholics and evangelical churches of preaching hate of gays and Jews.a ... Bob Barr (R-Ga) has called for prohibiting Wiccans from conducting religious services U.S. military bases. One wonders what Barr=s reaction would be if a Wiccan group were given a grant to provide social services.=b
(Source: a Boston, Robert, "President Bush and Faith-Based Initiative," AU Report Frequently Asked Questions, Americans United for Separation of Church and State, January 29, 2001. bPage, Clarence, "Barr's Witch-Hunt Moves to Military Bases," Chicago Tribune, 18 June 1999. Both a and b as cited in Tanner, Michael, "Corrupting Charity: Why Government Should Not Fund Faith-based Charties," CATO Institute Briefing Papers, No. 62, March 22, 2001, p.6)
37 Moeller, Clark, Church-State Separation: A Keystone to Peace (Towanda, PA: Pennsylvania Alliance for Democracy, 2004), pp. 17-18. This document can be downloaded from www.padnet.org/CSSmoeller2.pdf.
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