Church Funding

First Amendment supporters mourned when the Supreme Court ended the vote-count, handing the presidency to Bush.  Somehow we knew his promise to be a "uniter and not a divider" would quickly be abandoned.  His Office for Faith-Based Initiatives blatantly defies our most essential protection, church/state separation.  We knew that the reassurance that funds would only be used for the secular functions of churches was an empty one, and we have been proven correct.

The head of the faith-based office, John DiIulio, recently announced that taxpayer dollars could be used to physically repair run-down churches.  This is truly the last straw.  Churches are already tax-exempt, and are therefore subsidized by all citizens, whether we agree with the religions they are pushing or not.  Government funding of religion-based social programs further frees up church funds for proselytizing.  Now we're going to repair their buildings for them.

Where is all this money coming from?  It's no wonder our public schools never have enough funding.  Of course, that's all part of the plan.  Underfund the public schools, then use their failure to justify  voucher schemes that will take even more money from public schools and give it to religious schools.

Creating societal dependence on religious institutions is a growing trend.  Community hospitals are merging with religious hospitals for financial reasons.  Then they eliminate reproductive services, not even offering emergency contraception to rape victims.  This clearly indicates a fundamental problem with combining religions and social programs.  While churches claim to provide secular services, their first priority is always promoting their religion.

I'd gladly allow my tax dollars to repair churches IF the churches were converted into secular public schools and libraries, and all religious symbols removed.  When will a White House Office for Secular Community Initiatives undertake this worthwhile task?

Freethinkers of Upstate NY is an organization dedicated to supporting the separation of church and state, and representing non-believers in the public sphere.  We can be reached on the Internet at www.funygroup.org