From The Associated Press, 9/13/06:
http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/wire/sns-ap-marriage-counseling-lawsuit,0,5791835.story?coll=sns-ap-nationworld-headlines
Lawsuit Says Gov't Funds Christian Goals
By Associated Press
TACOMA, Wash. --
A group is suing the federal government over grant money that went to
a marriage counseling center, saying the Bush administration's
initiative to support faith-based organizations has been used to
unconstitutionally promote a fundamentalist Christian agenda.
The Northwest Marriage Institute received $97,750 last year from the
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, according to the lawsuit
filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court.
On its Web site, the institute quotes several Bible verses, including
one that urges wives to win over their husbands with a "quiet spirit."
It also says wives should serve their husbands and make them happy as
a way of honoring God.
"This program trains people in how to make their marriages conform to
one narrow interpretation of faith," said the Rev. Barry W. Lynn,
executive director of Washington, D.C.-based Americans United for
Separation of Church and State, which is representing the plaintiffs
in the lawsuit.
"The federal government has no business forcing the taxpayer to
subsidize that."
The 13 plaintiffs, residents of western Washington, want the grant
money returned, with interest, and an injunction to prohibit further
federal funding of the Marriage Institute.
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The Republican administration is, once again, caught with its
unconstitutional pants down.
Harry
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