Action Alerts - Your Help is Needed Now

(March 7, 2001)-- The U.S. Senate will vote next week on the Bush Faith-Based/
"Charitable Choice" scheme, which would provide for direct government funding
of churches and other houses of worship.  Please call your Senators at (202)
224-3121 or call (or even better -- visit) the Senator's local office in
your community.  You can locate your Senators' contact information at
http://www.senate.gov

TELL YOUR SENATORS THAT YOU STRONGLY OPPOSE CHARITABLE CHOICE BECAUSE:

* It would unconstitutionally entangle religion with government, and funnel
taxpayer dollars to religion.  We need to keep government out of religion.

* It would allow for government-funded employment discrimination.

* It would override accountability standards and requirements for quality
government services.

HERE IS MORE BACKGROUND MATERIAL THAT CAN BE USED FOR A LETTER TO THE
EDITOR, OP-ED OR LETTER TO YOUR SENATORS AND REPRESENTATIVE:

The Devil in the Details of Charitable Choice --
Harming Religion and Sanctioning Government-Funded Discrimination

Successful Partnerships Have Existed for Decades Without Charitable Choice

    Religiously-affiliated institutions, such as Catholic Charities, Lutheran
Social Services, United Jewish Communities and numerous smaller religious
nonprofits perform government-funded social services  and have for
decades -- but do not discriminate in staffing, do not force people into
worship or proselytize, follow all civil rights laws and follow all state
and local rules and licensing standards.  Houses of worship and other
pervasively religious institutions operating with private funds are exempt
from many of these standards, and therefore have simply set up separate
nonprofit organizations, which do not discriminate, follow civil rights laws
and have a social service rather than sectarian mission, to deliver
government-funded services.

Charitable Choice: License to Discriminate

    While churches, synagogues, mosques and other houses of worship are
permitted  with their own private funds -- to limit their hiring to people
of their religion or religious beliefs under the religious exemption to
Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, religious institutions must not engage in
discrimination when using taxpayer funds to administer government services.
However, Charitable Choice seeks to change that.

    The underlying premise of Charitable Choice is that religious
institutions  such as churches themselves --that utilize the Title VII
exemption from the prohibition on religious employment discrimination should
be able to both receive government funding and discriminate.

    Taxpayer dollars should not be used to discriminate against someone 
because
of their religion or religious beliefs.  It is both unconstitutional and
morally wrong.

Overriding Licensing and Safety Requirements

    In several bills, Charitable Choice provisions explicitly overrode state
licensing rules, specifically in the area of substance abuse treatment.
There were numerous attempts to force states to exempt religious providers
from any state licensing or qualifications standards.  This is a trend that
will only expand as Charitable Choice creeps into more authorizations bills,
particularly in the areas of education and health.

Government-Funded Religion?

    Charitable Choice presents the serious risk of undermining the 
independence
and autonomy of our nations churches, synagogues and other houses of
worship.  With government dollars come government oversight, audits and
accountability measures for taxpayer funds.   Will our nations churches
simply become an arm of the state?

Putting the Personal Religious Freedom of Beneficiaries At Risk

    As stated earlier, Charitable Choice contemplates not just grants to
religious entities, but also contracts to administer government programs.
Bush Administration officials have stated that social service programs
funded by President Bush's "faith-based initiative" could include religious
content -- such as Bible reading -- as long as taxpayer money was used only
for lights, chairs or other nonreligious expenses.  (Washington Post story
by Mike Allen, January 31, 2001.)  In other words, people seeking government
services will be steered toward programs that include specific religious
worship.  This is absolutely unconstitutional  government cannot encourage
or coerce anyone  especially someone seeking government services  to
engage in religious activities.  See Lee v. Weisman, 505 U.S. 577 (1992).

    Under Charitable Choice, will a Muslim or Jew seeking services be 
pressured
to study the New Testament to receive services?  Will a Baptist be pushed to
read the Talmud?

    Any safeguards will be totally unworkable  how will it be enforced?
Will a new federal Church Police be created to monitor these programs?
Will churches want their books subject to audit after audit by the
government?

Undermining the Role of Church in Society

    Many scholars have expressed serious concern that Charitable Choice will
undermine the traditional role of religion as a prophetic critic of
government.  Charitable Choice will make some churches dependent on tax
dollars, and like every other government-subsidized group, religion will be
less likely to bite the hand that feeds it.

Should the Government Choose Among Competing Churches?

    Charitable Choice puts the government in the Constitutionally and morally
suspect position of choosing amongst faiths to decide which is best.  Some
religious leaders and groups have already jumped into the fray by declaring
that the government should not fund certain faiths.  For example,
influential evangelist Pat Robertson has declared his opposition to the
funding of the Unification Church, Hare Krishna and the Church of
Scientology.

    On the February 4th edition of CBSs Face the Nation, the Presidents 
lead
advisor on this issue, Steven Goldsmith was asked whether the government
would fund controversial religions such as the Nation of Islam.  Goldsmith
replied that they would not fund churches that "preach hate"  to which Host
Bob Schieffer asked: Who decides if they're preaching hate or if they're
preaching love?  Goldsmith had no answer.



____________________________________________
Beth Corbin
National Grassroots Organizer
Americans United for Separation of Church and State
518 C Street, N.E.
Washington, D.C.  20002
PH:   202-466-3234
FAX:  202-466-2587
corbin@au.org
AUcorbin@aol.com
www.au.org

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