A message from The Rev. C.Welton Gaddy, President of TIA, 1/30/08:
If you saw President Bush's State of the Union address Monday night, you already know that the president is elevating the priority of his "faith-based initiative," which is just a euphemism for government-funded religious discrimination. Based on this administration's track record on religious liberty, The Interfaith Alliance believes the time has come to abolish the faith-based initiative once and for all.
Yesterday's New York Times includes an op-ed written by David Kuo and John DiIulio, two former White House officials who worked on the faith-based initiative. We have written a letter to the editor in response, and we wanted to share that message with you.
These two former Bush Administration officials are asking the American people to make a huge leap of faith. They claim that the faith-based initiative funding is appropriated in an above-board manner, so the program deserves more taxpayer dollars.
But that is not what the record demonstrates. In his tell-all book Tempting Faith, Mr. Kuo wrote that faith-based grant applications were supposed to be reviewed by a White House panel in a "religiously neutral fashion," but he admits the panel's ratings were "a farce" (p. 214). One panel member told Kuo: "When I saw one of those non-Christian groups in the set I was reviewing, I just stopped looking at them and gave them a zero [out of a possible 100]" (p. 215). Consequently, taxpayer dollars often went to Christian groups "with little more than a post office box" (p. 214).
And that is not the worst part of the story. No one knows the full extent of this religious discrimination because the faith-based initiative was set up to avoid congressional oversight.
The separation of religion and government is more than an academic debate; it has real consequences. In the world's most religiously diverse country, we cannot allow the government to favor certain religious groups over others. Nor can we allow taxpayer dollars to fund religious proselytizing.
David Kuo's past statements suggest the faith-based initiative engages in religious discrimination and is little more than a political stunt to appease evangelicals. But unlike Mr. Kuo, I don't believe we can afford to give this scheme another chance.
I hope you will support The Interfaith Alliance in our efforts to shut down the faith-based initiative
Thanks to the activism of thousands of The Interfaith Alliance (TIA) members like you, a bipartisan majority in the U.S. House of Representatives passed a comprehensive hate crimes bill on May 3. As the legislation moves to the Senate and the president, TIA will continue to work at the local and national level to enact this legislation.
The Rev. Dr. C. Welton Gaddy, president of The Interfaith Alliance, said to a Congressional briefing before the vote, “Unfortunately, a few religious voices, arrogantly and wrongly claiming to represent the view of all religious people, continue attempts to defeat hate crimes legislation. Their despicable language related to this bill should give away their motivation and identity as they rant and rave about the application of this legislation to ‘cross-dressers’ or as they raise the red herring of this bill criminalizing speech or thought. Let me be clear: this bill addresses vicious crimes and vicious criminals who act on their hate and terrorize entire communities.”
Additionally, TIA has again helped organize support from almost three dozen diverse, national religious organizations, including Christians, Jews, Sikhs, Muslims, and many others, to support this legislation. We are also enlisting diverse clergy to support this legislation at www.clergyagainsthate.org. Please encourage religious leaders in your community to sign this online petition.
You can add your own voice to this effort by e-mailing your senators today and urging them to pass the Hate Crimes Prevention Bill, S1105. Go to www.interfaithalliance.org/hatecrimes.
First Freedom First is a joint project of The Interfaith Alliance Foundation and Americans United for Separation of Church and State to raise public awareness and promote education about religious liberty and the separation of church and state. The project’s centerpiece is a petition that gathers national support for our constitutional right to make personal choices about what we believe. It focuses on eight major issues where our freedoms are threatened. With your support, Americans can strengthen our democratic values and renew our commitment to safeguarding the separation of church and state and protecting religious liberty. To find out more and to sign the petition, go to www.firstfreedomfirst.org.
The 2008 presidential election—already well under way in the first half of 2007—is shaping up to be a showcase for the issues addressed in The Interfaith Alliance’s One Nation, Many Faiths. VOTE 2008 program.
Religious frameworks have been used to discuss a variety of political issues, from the war in Iraq to the budget to the environment. No candidate has yet emerged as the clear favorite of the religious right, but some critics have focused on faith as a measure of a candidate. Candidates have been asked over and over again to detail and justify publicly a personal religious faith and practice.
The intensity and virulence of the public conversation reinforce the need for TIA’s election-related campaign to educate Americans about the proper role religion should play in elections. The Constitution and federal tax laws prohibit tax-exempt religious organizations from engaging in partisan politics. TIA further believes that mixing religion and government ultimately harms both.
Last year’s popular printed guides—one for candidates and one for houses of worship—are being updated for 2008. In addition, plans are underway for a more comprehensive internet Web presence for the VOTE 2008 program. The flexibility of Web publishing will make it easy for TIA to provide updated information about IRS rulings and other fast-changing election-related information. The older versions of the two guides are still available on line:
Religion & Politics: Running for Office in a Multi-Faith Nation
Religion & Politics: A Campaign Season Guide for Houses of Worship
The first is a resource for political candidates which provides advice on using religion for personal strength, publicly respecting all religions, how religion can be manipulated for partisan political purposes, and the misuse of religion as an election strategy. The second is addressed to clergy and spiritual leaders to help them understand the importance of encouraging their members to register and vote, why they should never tell congregants whom to vote for, the need to preserve the autonomy of houses of worship and ensure that religious institutions are not held to the priorities of governments, and how religion’s power to heal our nation is severely compromised when our shared values are replaced by partisan or sectarian interests.
These publications may be downloaded at www.interfaithalliance.org/elections.
Mixing of religion and politics happens not only at the national electoral level, but also in state and local races. Although the Democratic and Republican nominations for president will be decided earlier than ever in 2008, the shorter political season doesn’t usually begin in earnest until late summer or even Labor Day of an election year, so we expect another wave of public conversation about our issues to happen in mid-to-late 2008.
In early October, Welton Gaddy participated in a news conference with Diana Eck of the Pluralism Project and Amy Caiazza of the Institute for Women's Policy Research on "The Role and Impact of Religion in the 2008 Presidential Election." After each partciipant offered comments, journalists had an opportunity to weigh in with their questions, which made for a very interesting exchange. You can listen to this conference and read the press releases online at: http://www.religionandpluralism.org/.
We are committed to an inclusive democratic process based upon the mutual responsibility of public officials, public institutions, and the general public. It requires honest and civility through open discussion of issues and full participation open to all citizens.
We work towards a public good that offers dignity and wholeness to all people. This includes a quality public education, a sustainable environment, a living wage, comprehensive health care, adequate housing, and a voice for people of faith in the political arena that respects the First Amendment.
As a growing and diverse interfaith community, we bring a constructive and healing witness to public and political life in the Greater Rochester community. The Interfaith Alliance of Rochester is one of many local alliances in a national coalition of people of faith.
Home | Active Programs | Calendar | Meeting Minutes
From the President | Doings at National | Sign Up! | Links | Contacts