Religions > Atheism > Salt Lake Trib: Bush is dividing the country along religious fault lines
| Topic: |
Religions > Atheism |
| User: |
"Fredric L. Rice" |
| Date: |
19 Jun 2004 03:02:13 PM |
| Object: |
Salt Lake Trib: Bush is dividing the country along religious fault lines |
And Scientology is out there trying to get our tax money, also.
-=-
From The Salt Lake Tribune, 6/18/04:
http://www.sltrib.com/2004/Jun/06182004/commenta/commenta.asp
Bush is dividing the country along religious fault lines
By Robyn Blumner
SYNDICATED COLUMNIST
The byplay was as inevitable as chickens being provided to the barrios
of Mexico just before the eleccion.
President Bush first opens the spigot of public money to churches and
other faith-based groups to the tune of over a billion dollars last
year, then he knocks on the faith community's door for a political
favor, por favor.
The Bush-Cheney re-election campaign is not a bit embarrassed at being
caught trying to organize a brigade of (mostly) Christian soldiers in
houses of worship throughout Pennsylvania who would act as point
people for the campaign.
After reports emerged that the Bush campaign's national headquarters
asked the Pennsylvania contingent to identify "1,600 'Friendly
Congregations' in Pennsylvania where voters friendly to President Bush
might gather on a regular basis," Steve Schmidt, a spokesman for the
Bush administration, told the New York Times:
"People of faith have as much right to participate in the political
process as any other community."
Of course they do, Steve, but that misses the point.
Electioneering is not supposed to occur in houses of worship for two
very good reasons.
One:
As organizations enjoying tax exempt status, churches, synagogues and
mosques have agreed to divorce themselves from partisan politics.
That is part of the deal for collecting tax-deductible contributions
and getting a free ride on most taxes.
And two:
Mixing religion and politics compromises the integrity of faith.
The Rev. Brian Flory, president of the Southeast Pennsylvania
Interfaith Alliance, described it this way:
"At best, the blatant introduction of politics into a congregation
makes it nothing more than a political action committee. At worst, it
frays the fabric of a congregation's integrity and mission."
May religious leaders speak out on controversial social issues?
Sure.
But support for an ideology that may be aligned with a particular
political party should not cross the line into outright endorsements
of candidates or telling parishioners how to vote.
Examples of going too far?
Well, one is Bishop Michael Sheridan of Colorado Springs, who
announced that communion should be denied to people who vote for
candidates that support abortion rights, gay marriage and stem cell
research.
(No word, however, on candidates who mistreat the poor by rejecting
minimum wage increases or cutting public-housing dollars.)
Another is the recent endorsement of Democrat John Kerry's bid to be
president by the Rev. Gregory Groover of the Charles Street African
Methodist Episcopal Church in Boston.
I'm not just picking on Bush here.
There have been plenty of African-American churches that have crossed
this line and the IRS should be more vigilant than it has been in
policing the abuses.
But what Bush's campaign is doing is entirely unprecedented in
breadth, scope and form.
The re-election campaign is essentially trying to organize a
church-based political apparatus, where congregations are a new kind
of Chicago-style ward.
Houses of worship are irresistible targets for Bush organizers,
because the churchgoing habits of Americans now predict voting
behavior better than almost any other demographic, even more so than
gender.
In the 2000 election, those who attend religious services regularly
chose Bush over rival Al Gore by 20 points and it is likely to be even
greater this year because, as president, Bush has so identified with
evangelicals.
The strategy also trades on the prodigious favors Bush has been doing
for the religious community.
There are now 10 separate federal agencies with offices devoted to
directing tax money to faith-based groups.
In a report released in March, the White House Office of Faith-Based
and Community Initiatives boasted that in five of those agencies
alone, $1.17 billion was awarded to religiously affiliated groups in
fiscal year 2003.
Even religious leaders should know there's no free lunch.
Government money comes with all sorts of strings, some apparent, some
subtle.
Their congregations are now needed to answer a different calling.
As churches are being recruited, Republicans in Congress are doing
their part to wave off the IRS.
A bill that would allow religious denominations to support political
candidates has been slipped into a larger jobs measure in the House.
The Safe Harbor for Churches provision would reduce tax penalties for
a set number of political endorsements from the pulpit and eliminate
them if the endorsement was "unintentional."
Bush is not just engaged in a religious crusade in Iraq.
He is also dividing America along religious fault lines.
In his view, the separation of church and state is something to either
ignore or dismantle, and those flocks that agree are being enlisted as
his troops for the holy war that will be Election 2004.
Gracias.
---
Scientology tries to disrupt terrorist attacks relief efforts: http://www.cosvm.org/
"Easy everyone, it's just the chocolate milk talking." -- Miles Long
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