Post by AuntieSocial on Sept 21, 2004 17:46:04 GMT -5
Fight Faith-Based Initiatives
Received from the Council for Secular Humanism - September 21, 2004
Greetings,
When Michigan resident Joseph Raymond Hanas was arrested and convicted for a nonviolent drug offense in January 2003, the court gave him the choice of completing a drug rehabilitation program (which might have led to charges being dropped), or serving jail time. Not surprisingly, Hanas chose the rehabilitation program, administered by the Inner City Christian Outreach Center.
But Hanas, a Catholic, was in for a shock: The program, administered by Pentecostal Christians, had no drug or alcohol counselors on staff; their "treatment" consisted mainly of prolonged bible study and indoctrination in Pentecostal rituals. He was deprived of his Bible and rosary, and he was prevented from seeing his priest and deacon. The rehabilitation staff told him that Catholicism is "witchcraft." He was forced to attend Pentecostal worship services. He was also told he would never overcome his addiction until he proclaimed himself "born again."
When Hanas requested a transfer to a more tolerant program, the judge interpreted his request as a failure to complete the program. The judge then gave Hanas four years' probation (with six months' jail time) and removed any opportunity to have the conviction removed from his record. Hanas has since filed an appeal with the Michigan State Supreme Court, requesting that his conviction be reversed or sent to Appeals Court for review.
"The Michigan case shows just how horribly wrong the merging of the state and religion can go, even with the noblest of intentions," says David Koepsell, executive director of the Council for Secular Humanism. "The Hanas case is a prime example of how the First Amendment's strict separation can be destroyed with such 'faith-based initiatives.' It is time once again to take the wall of separation seriously, and to put an end to the insidious destruction of our secular society by these devices."
Edward Buckner, Southern Director of the Council, says that while faith-based initiatives may sound like a good idea, people shouldn't let sentiment cloud their judgement. And because such programs affect both the government and the religious organization, they should never be funded without proper oversight.
"No self-respecting religious group should consider risking government control and government interference in its affairs by accepting tax dollars," says Buckner. "And no self-respecting taxpayer should consider voting to give up those tax dollars without a full and fair accounting for the funds, clear standards for evaluating whether the money is doing what it is supposed to be doing, and full enforcement of equal protection under the law for employees and clients for whom the tax money is spent."
Joe Hanas's plight demonstrates that the very problems critics of faith-based initiatives predicted would happen. Hanas is Christian; one can only imagine what would happen to a nonbeliever in similar circumstances. Faith-based services are--and will continue to be--used to proselytize by the religious groups that administer them. Thanks to the the Charity Choice provision of the 1996 Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act, many states now include faith-based programs as part of court-ordered drug rehabilitation, and despite some legal challenges, such programs are expanding. Legislation passed last year, for example, includes appropriations from the Healthy Iowans tobacco trust and the tobacco settlement trust fund, (HF 685) which has a line item appropriation of $310,000 to the Newton Correctional Facility for a "value-based" treatment program. Kansas legislators passed the "drug abuse treatment fund" (SB 123), which allows for community-based or faith-based programs to provide drug treatment.
Ohio House Bill 95 established the Governor's Office for Faith-Based Nonprofit and Other Nonprofit Organizations. The office will serve as a clearinghouse of information on federal, state, and local funding for charitable services performed by organizations. The bill allocates $625,000 in TANF funds to support the activities of this office for the 2003-2004 biennium.
On the federal level, the Bush administration has spearheaded faith-based initiatives independent of Congress. According to an August 2004 report published by The Roundtable on Religion and Social Welfare Policy, titled The Expanding Administrative Presidency: George W. Bush and the Faith-Based Initiative, "the Bush Administration has made concerted use of its executive powers and has moved aggressively through new regulation, funding, political appointees and active public outreach efforts to expand the federal government's partnerships with faith-based social service providers in ways that don't require Congressional approval."
The White House Office of Faith-based Initiatives and a network of satellite centers in the federal departments of Agriculture, Commerce, Education, Health and Human Services, Housing and Urban Development, and the Small Business Administration "articulate, advance and oversee coordinated efforts to win more federal for faith-based social services."
Let President Bush, the Congress and your state legislators know that faith-based initiatives are undermining the wall of separation of church and state, and violating the basic rights of citizens.
Send a letter to the following decision maker(s):
President George W. Bush
Your Congressperson
Your Governor
Your Senators
Received from the Council for Secular Humanism - September 21, 2004
Greetings,
When Michigan resident Joseph Raymond Hanas was arrested and convicted for a nonviolent drug offense in January 2003, the court gave him the choice of completing a drug rehabilitation program (which might have led to charges being dropped), or serving jail time. Not surprisingly, Hanas chose the rehabilitation program, administered by the Inner City Christian Outreach Center.
But Hanas, a Catholic, was in for a shock: The program, administered by Pentecostal Christians, had no drug or alcohol counselors on staff; their "treatment" consisted mainly of prolonged bible study and indoctrination in Pentecostal rituals. He was deprived of his Bible and rosary, and he was prevented from seeing his priest and deacon. The rehabilitation staff told him that Catholicism is "witchcraft." He was forced to attend Pentecostal worship services. He was also told he would never overcome his addiction until he proclaimed himself "born again."
When Hanas requested a transfer to a more tolerant program, the judge interpreted his request as a failure to complete the program. The judge then gave Hanas four years' probation (with six months' jail time) and removed any opportunity to have the conviction removed from his record. Hanas has since filed an appeal with the Michigan State Supreme Court, requesting that his conviction be reversed or sent to Appeals Court for review.
"The Michigan case shows just how horribly wrong the merging of the state and religion can go, even with the noblest of intentions," says David Koepsell, executive director of the Council for Secular Humanism. "The Hanas case is a prime example of how the First Amendment's strict separation can be destroyed with such 'faith-based initiatives.' It is time once again to take the wall of separation seriously, and to put an end to the insidious destruction of our secular society by these devices."
Edward Buckner, Southern Director of the Council, says that while faith-based initiatives may sound like a good idea, people shouldn't let sentiment cloud their judgement. And because such programs affect both the government and the religious organization, they should never be funded without proper oversight.
"No self-respecting religious group should consider risking government control and government interference in its affairs by accepting tax dollars," says Buckner. "And no self-respecting taxpayer should consider voting to give up those tax dollars without a full and fair accounting for the funds, clear standards for evaluating whether the money is doing what it is supposed to be doing, and full enforcement of equal protection under the law for employees and clients for whom the tax money is spent."
Joe Hanas's plight demonstrates that the very problems critics of faith-based initiatives predicted would happen. Hanas is Christian; one can only imagine what would happen to a nonbeliever in similar circumstances. Faith-based services are--and will continue to be--used to proselytize by the religious groups that administer them. Thanks to the the Charity Choice provision of the 1996 Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act, many states now include faith-based programs as part of court-ordered drug rehabilitation, and despite some legal challenges, such programs are expanding. Legislation passed last year, for example, includes appropriations from the Healthy Iowans tobacco trust and the tobacco settlement trust fund, (HF 685) which has a line item appropriation of $310,000 to the Newton Correctional Facility for a "value-based" treatment program. Kansas legislators passed the "drug abuse treatment fund" (SB 123), which allows for community-based or faith-based programs to provide drug treatment.
Ohio House Bill 95 established the Governor's Office for Faith-Based Nonprofit and Other Nonprofit Organizations. The office will serve as a clearinghouse of information on federal, state, and local funding for charitable services performed by organizations. The bill allocates $625,000 in TANF funds to support the activities of this office for the 2003-2004 biennium.
On the federal level, the Bush administration has spearheaded faith-based initiatives independent of Congress. According to an August 2004 report published by The Roundtable on Religion and Social Welfare Policy, titled The Expanding Administrative Presidency: George W. Bush and the Faith-Based Initiative, "the Bush Administration has made concerted use of its executive powers and has moved aggressively through new regulation, funding, political appointees and active public outreach efforts to expand the federal government's partnerships with faith-based social service providers in ways that don't require Congressional approval."
The White House Office of Faith-based Initiatives and a network of satellite centers in the federal departments of Agriculture, Commerce, Education, Health and Human Services, Housing and Urban Development, and the Small Business Administration "articulate, advance and oversee coordinated efforts to win more federal for faith-based social services."
Let President Bush, the Congress and your state legislators know that faith-based initiatives are undermining the wall of separation of church and state, and violating the basic rights of citizens.
Send a letter to the following decision maker(s):
President George W. Bush
Your Congressperson
Your Governor
Your Senators
