According to ACSBlog, the Justice Department has released a memo providing legal cover for faith-based programs who receive federal funding but use religious affiliation as a basis for hiring. The memo, which is available here, reinterprets the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993 to categorically exempt any religious organization that receives federal funding from any anti-discrimination policies, even if the programs through which these groups receive their funding specifically require inclusive hiring practices.
The blog post references a New York Times article, which delves deeper into the hiring practices of World Vision, a faith-based group that receives federal money to pay for its anti-gang programs, but only hires Christians. According to ACS, World Vision defines itself as “an international partnership of Christians whose mission is to follow our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ in working with the poor and oppressed to promote human transformation, seek justice, and bear witness to the good news of the Kingdom of God.”
Barry Lynn, president of Americans United for Separation of Church and State said “The Bush administration has been trying to allow religious recipients of tax dollars to discriminate in hiring. No Congress intended that. The Constitution does not permit it. And this memo is just one more example of this administration subverting Congressional and constitutional intent in pursuit of a forbidden goal: discrimination in hiring.”
This isn’t a leading issue among the several motivating the electorate to kick the bums out; but, it’s certainly significant among folks concerned with returning constitutional guarantees relegated to lip service these past several years.
#32 “Not doubting you but can you document this?”
Go back and listen to the debates, it is probably on his website also. He has stated it several times in recent interviews.
I’m sure you share the same outrage that I do that:
The NAACP doesn’t hire whites.
AIPAC doesn’t let in Gentiles.
CAIR doesn’t hire kafirs.
Greenpeace won’t hire global warming skeptics.
The NRA won’t hire gun control advocates.
Planned Parenthood won’t hire pro-life people.
Christians organizations hire Christians.
etc.
Wait, I forgot you’re a hypocrite and only want to enforce discrimination standards against groups you oppose for other reasons.
AND STILL,
the church hires more Child molesters then ANY OF THOSE groups.
# 34 Billy Bob, “The NAACP doesn’t hire whites.”
I’m sure the American Communist Liberal Union will be filing suit against them any day now for right violations…
#34 Billy Bob:
Uh… do you understand that none of those groups you list are contracted by the U.S. government and paid with U.S. tax dollars?
It’s amazing how right-wingers enter into arguments when they have not even the first clue about what the issue is…
#29, Nimby,
Now my question to you: Which organization would you rather your tax dollars support?
Oxfam, Doctors Without Borders, International Red Cross, St. John Society, Second Harvest, and Planned Parenthood to name just a few.
Think about this: Without religion, would 9/11 have been possible? Would it have been as easy as it was to get 10 people together and willingly murder-suicide? To paraphrase a Nobel Prize winner: “Regardless of religion, good people will want to do good, and bad people will want to do bad. But for good people to want to do bad, that takes religion.”
Thank you CelticBear< for the quote
#39 – Mr. Fusion
Good quote.
#33, Cow-Paddy Shit Talker,
Go back and listen to the debates, it is probably on his website also. He has stated it several times in recent interviews.
In other words you are just blowing more shit out your ass.
#40, Jag,
Thanks. But, ya know, there are these things called the intertubewebby things. And they are a great way to find out almost anything you ever cared to know. And then some.
Last night I showed my wife this video about some guy blowing powder out his butt. Funny??? Well, all day I’ve been teasing her how if I put some icing sugar … , well, I’m sure you get the picture. Some women don’t like being called sweet cheeks in public.
But the thing is, with the intertubewebby things, that if you don’t know something, you can just look it up. AND ITS FREE !!! There is this thing called the “googly” and all you need do is type in the main words of what you want to know and BAM!!!, you get all these places that talk about that.
Now I know you are wondering why I’m bringing this up. Simply because by using the “googly” you don’t have to make stuff up! Nope. From now on there is no reason for someone to have to bullpoop someone else. If they want to say “Well Obama said yada yada …” you can ask them where they found it. And they have easy access to back up their claim or shut the firetruck up.
Change we can believe in.
#42 – Mr. Fusion
A Republican’s nightmare… 😉
i love the idea that ANYTHING can be made secret in the gov. for 40 years..
AND we wont know WHO DID WHAT, in the gov.
NOW lets add that to the CHURCH..and the bible.
Then add 400 years..
I like the idea that MANY christiens dont REALIZE that the OLD testament is based on Jewish beliefs, and the stories OF the bible are from the hebrew..
They would rather SHOOT them, then understand WHERE it mostly CAME FROM.
I’m way late to this party. I would add the following:
1) The federal government has a long history of giving funding to religious organizations to provide services to the community provided that they do not discriminate in hiring.
2) Bush’s despicable faith based initiatives policy was designed to remove that restriction and allow funding even if the organization discriminates in hiring.
3) Unfortunately, both of our presidential candidates have expressed support for and intent to continue this unconscionable policy.
4) The continuation of and furthering of this policy will probably result in large swaths of the country that have such services provided only by religious institutions that are discriminatory. This will likely become a real problem as trained social workers who refuse to profess a faith they do not possess either because they have a different faith or no faith at all will likely become unemployable.
This policy is among the worst violations of separation of church and state ever devised and pushed through.
#45, Scott,
This policy is among the worst violations of separation of church and state ever devised and pushed through.
And hopefully won’t be in place long or ever repeated.
#46 “And hopefully won’t be in place long or ever repeated.”
Better give Omama a call! LOL!!!
#46 – Mr. Fusion and #47 – Paddy-O,
I guess neither of you noticed the point that both of our current presidential candidates are planning to continue the horrific faith based initiatives.
Perhaps at some distant point in the unforeseeable future, we can get an atheist into some federal office to begin taking a real interest in freedom from religion.
Until then, we’ll have to hope FFRF has some effect.