Your government is moving each day closer to a theocracy, where a narrow and hateful brand of Christian fundamentalism will rule.
Homeland Security just opened a “faith-based intitiative” office to
give money to Christian fundamentalist groups for Katrina relief
efforts. What most see as an outrage, with a city devestated and tens
of thousands of people still in need of money, housing, and jobs, the
Bush regime sees as an opportunity to for furthering moves toward
theocracy. Far-right religious institutions like the Family Research
Council and Pat Robertson’s Operation Blessing will be receiving even
more government money to push their narrow and hateful brand of
Christian fundamentalism on Katrina survivors. As Esther Kaplan
documents in her book With God On Their Side, rarely if ever
does money for “faith-based initiatives” go to non-Christian religious
groups (and is usually reserved for the most fundamentalist of
Christian groups). The faith-based office might be new to the
Department of Homeland Security, but such offices already exist inside
the Justice, Education, Labor, and Health and Human Services
departments.
As Barry Lynn, executive director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, put it:
Of all the bad places for a faith-based office, this is the
most strange. These groups will be able to turn away
volunteers if they find their religious views unacceptable. And
[disaster victims] will be reluctant to seek aid because frequently
this kind of assistance comes with evangelism.
The World Can’t Wait! Drive Out the Bush Regime!
(source: “Bush Orders Faith Based Office”, Washington Times, 3/9/06)