Lawsuits involving faith-based initiatives are having mixed results so far. I'm sure the cases will become so prevalent and with antithetical outcomes that the Supreme Court will eventually have to weigh in on this.
I can intellectually appreciate that when government contracts out its social policy, it shouldn't discriminate against groups that are affiliated with or supported by religious groups. But when a religiously affiliated group becomes a government contractor, it should definitely be expected to follow the same rules of religious neutrality in providing its subsidized services and in its hiring practices for those services. It is never acceptable to use government funding to discriminate against U.S. citizens.
I also expect that the Bush administration won't be funding any Buddhist charities anytime soon. If anyone has any information that contradicts my unresearched hunch, please leave a comment.
Perhaps a better solution would be to get the government (at all levels) out of this business entirely, and let private charities, secular and religious, take care of things. Then the lawsuits would disappear, more people would be helped, and we could all get on with our lives.
Peace,
Tor
Categories: religion, politics, Buddhism, charities, government, libertarianism, taxes
