January 29, 003
Is the building and preservation of so-called "sacred places" the next step in Bush's federal faith-based initiative?
For the first time in U.S. history, public money would help build churches, mosques, temples and other houses of worship as long as part of those facilities are also used for social programs according to new policy being implemented by the Bush administration.
The plan is part of an expansive White House initiative which would direct billions of federal dollars into the coffers of religious groups seeking to operate faith-based social outreaches. While Congress has yet to approve any legislation authorizing the program, President Bush has used his power of issuing Executive Orders to have key federal agencies rewrite their internal regulations, and make churches and other houses of worship eligible for a wide range of grants and government assistance.
So far, the Bush plan has proposed subsidizing faith-based social programs with administrative funding, training seminars and other forms of aid. The new policy shift, announced in a proposed rule change for the Department of Housing and Urban Development, significantly expands the scope of government entitlement, though, and makes money available for construction or rehabilitation of church facilities. Last year, HUD disbursed $7.7 billion for various housing and community development grants. Current regulations generally prohibit religious groups from receiving this form of assistance, though, since it clearly violates the separation of church and state.
Supporters of the faith-based initiatives criticize that constraint, and say that the new HUD regulations would simply end discrimination against religious groups, and put churches "on a level playing field" with secular counterparts when seeking public money.
"We see no reason to exclude religious organizations from participation in these programs if there can be a reasonable mechanism to ensure that a program has no particular religious connotation one way or another," declared Richard Hauser, general counsel to HUD. He told the New York Times, "There's no reason you can't have a cathedral upstairs and something that would look like any other room in the basement for counseling."
But critics are attacking the proposal, charging that it places the government -- and taxpayers -- in the role of constructing churches, mosques, temples or other houses of worship in clear violation of the First Amendment's Establishment Clause.
In a media statement released Sunday, American Atheists President Ellen Johnson warned: "For the first time since the American Revolution, taxpayers will be picking up the tab for building churches and other facilities used for sectarian worship as part of a scheme just to further the faith-based initiative."
"It's pretty clear that this new rule is also part of a plan to use government money to pay for the rehabilitation of dilapidated houses of worship, and divert money away from secular social services," Johnson added.
Christopher Anders, legal counsel for the American Civil Liberties Union told reporters that the new Bush plan "is probably the most clearly unconstitutional aspect of the White House's faith-based initiative that we've seen up to this point."
Other critics like Massachusetts Rep. Barney Frank said that the new HUD rules would require government officials to determine which part of a building was to be used for worship and which sections were reserved for social services.
"You run into the nightmarish problem of having the government monitor what goes on inside churches and sanctuaries," said Frank. "Are we going to start sending in the inspector general to charge people with committing a bar mitzvah?"
Is the building and preservation of so-called "sacred places" the next step in Bush's federal faith-based initiative?
For the first time in U.S. history, public money would help build churches, mosques, temples and other houses of worship as long as part of those facilities are also used for social programs according to new policy being implemented by the Bush administration.
The plan is part of an expansive White House initiative which would direct billions of federal dollars into the coffers of religious groups seeking to operate faith-based social outreaches. While Congress has yet to approve any legislation authorizing the program, President Bush has used his power of issuing Executive Orders to have key federal agencies rewrite their internal regulations, and make churches and other houses of worship eligible for a wide range of grants and government assistance.
So far, the Bush plan has proposed subsidizing faith-based social programs with administrative funding, training seminars and other forms of aid. The new policy shift, announced in a proposed rule change for the Department of Housing and Urban Development, significantly expands the scope of government entitlement, though, and makes money available for construction or rehabilitation of church facilities. Last year, HUD disbursed $7.7 billion for various housing and community development grants. Current regulations generally prohibit religious groups from receiving this form of assistance, though, since it clearly violates the separation of church and state.
Supporters of the faith-based initiatives criticize that constraint, and say that the new HUD regulations would simply end discrimination against religious groups, and put churches "on a level playing field" with secular counterparts when seeking public money.
"We see no reason to exclude religious organizations from participation in these programs if there can be a reasonable mechanism to ensure that a program has no particular religious connotation one way or another," declared Richard Hauser, general counsel to HUD. He told the New York Times, "There's no reason you can't have a cathedral upstairs and something that would look like any other room in the basement for counseling."
But critics are attacking the proposal, charging that it places the government -- and taxpayers -- in the role of constructing churches, mosques, temples or other houses of worship in clear violation of the First Amendment's Establishment Clause.
In a media statement released Sunday, American Atheists President Ellen Johnson warned: "For the first time since the American Revolution, taxpayers will be picking up the tab for building churches and other facilities used for sectarian worship as part of a scheme just to further the faith-based initiative."
"It's pretty clear that this new rule is also part of a plan to use government money to pay for the rehabilitation of dilapidated houses of worship, and divert money away from secular social services," Johnson added.
Christopher Anders, legal counsel for the American Civil Liberties Union told reporters that the new Bush plan "is probably the most clearly unconstitutional aspect of the White House's faith-based initiative that we've seen up to this point."
Other critics like Massachusetts Rep. Barney Frank said that the new HUD rules would require government officials to determine which part of a building was to be used for worship and which sections were reserved for social services.
"You run into the nightmarish problem of having the government monitor what goes on inside churches and sanctuaries," said Frank. "Are we going to start sending in the inspector general to charge people with committing a bar mitzvah?"
