Pol – Detailing ‘Faith Bias’

After some further consideration and musing the notes I’ve received, I’ve a few more points to refine. Once again, thanks to both my supporters and those who critique. 🙂

Some things I left out, just because I’m scatter brained. 😉 One of these is that I don’t think any programs that ‘reach against religion’ should get government funding either. So secular programs that have an underlying ‘God sucks’ theme to them are just as inadmissible as faith based programs that have an underlying ‘God rocks’ theme.

When it comes to government programs, they should be religion neutral, which means that religion doesn’t even enter the equation. I don’t’ care if its run by a pack of Agnostics, Christians or Satan Worshipers. When it comes to social programs, sponsored by the government to help the unfortunate, when you’re on the government’s dime, you’re there to hand out food and generally say to them, ‘Hey, I’m here for you’.

That’s it. The straight business of helping out the needy, lacking any ulterior motivation or secondary objectives that have to do with any faith or lack of faith on the planet.

Personally, for what its worth and for those who don’t know yet, I’m a neutral Agnostic. I don’t think man has the capacity yet to know the great secrets of the universe, if there are any. For us to presume otherwise is pure ego. But that’s another discussion for another day.

My biggest beef with Bush is that his own language betrays potential ulterior motives in spreading religion through government subsidies to faith based programs. Consider this:

Of course, the President denies any church-state impropriety in doling billions of tax dollars to religious organizations for charitable activities; he says he is just ending the welfare state’s “history of discrimination against faith-based groups.” But Bush’s justification for Faith-Based Initiatives reveals their actual purpose: “Welfare policy,” he explains, “will not solve the deepest problems of the spirit. . .. No government policy can put hope in people’s hearts or a sense of purpose in people’s lives. That is done when someone, some good soul, puts an arm around a neighbor and says, ‘God loves you, and I love you, and you can count on us both.'” In other words, the government is bankrolling religious organizations because they “help the needy” not only materially but also spiritually—by exposing them to religion. Thus, we can expect that Bush’s taxpayer-funded “armies of compassion” will not only supervise Midnight Basketball games for “at risk youth,” but also exhort the youngsters to save their souls by adopting the teachings of Jesus, Yahweh, Allah, or (depending on the government’s commitment to “inclusiveness”) David Koresh.(Source)

Note the bold. That doesn’t sound like he’s just allowing faith based programs to compete fairly, it sounds to me like he wants to intentionally give more money to them with the goal of spreading faith. Good intentions aside(which oft pave the road to Hell as per the well known saying), he’s butting up against the Constitution with that play.

This is what irks me and makes me question Bush and his real motives. Some might see him as simply a man trying to do what he thinks is best, but even the honest good intent of bettering your fellow man can be a threat to constitutional regs, which are there to keep the government from promoting religion.

I don’t begrudge Bush his right to insert faithful phrases into his speeches. Every president does that and its more like ‘preaching to the faithful’ than converting the heathens. It’s when he starts to spend our tax money on constitutional violations that I start to get uppity.

Hmmm.. I think that clears things up a bit more, hmm? 🙂