News
and Opinion
The following
was an op-ed piece in The New York Times.
Faith
In Our Founders
Forrest Church
December
25, 2000
I can see why creating
a federal office to finance religious charities appeals to President-elect
George W. Bush. The idea of a new Office of Faith-Based Action - discussed
during Mr. Bush's meeting last week in Austin with religious leaders
- harmonizes the familiar Republican mantras of decentralization and
deregulation with a born-again commitment to serving people, especially
black Americans, who overwhelmingly rejected Mr. Bush at the polls.
As a minister,
I admit that the idea of taxpayer-supported aid for my tax- exempt institution
is tempting to con-template. But to be faithful to the constitutional
mandate for separation of church and state, we should all be cautious
about government subsidies for religiously based programs, however noble
their goals.
I've been tempted
before. Sixteen years ago, my church and 11 others in Manhattan received
gifts of $10,000 each in state funds, secured by a New York State senator,
to support our community outreach efforts. (Each state legislator is
allotted a chunk of pork to distribute as he or she sees fit.) When
I received this manna from Albany, I immediately turned it back - for
a good reason. It would have been too easy to spend the money on religious
programs, instead of charitable ones, and not be caught.
Hence my concern
today. Direct governmental subsidies to religious institutions as the
next step in national welfare reform may suit Mr. Bush's platform of
compassionate conservatism, but they undermine the separation of church
and state.
To be sure, I agree
with Vice President-elect Dick Cheney that government doesn't have a
monopoly on wisdom when it comes to dealing with society's problems.
My church, All Souls, has more than a dozen social service programs
in New York's poor areas, and our congregation supports these to the
tune of about $200,000 a year,
One youngster who
joined the Boy Scout troop we created for home-less children went on
to be a finalist in the prestigious Westinghouse Science Contest for
high school students. And we have helped thousands of children, people
with AIDS and homeless neighbors to build better lives.
Companies, too,
are joining religious and community groups to serve those in need. Chase
Manhattan Bank has invested millions of dollars in a program that creatively
infuses religious corporate money.
So why not augment
all this with a little governmental largess? Because even religious
institutions that place a value on serving the poor almost always place
a higher value on saving souls. They should. That is why they exist
in the first place. Government support for church-based charitable programs
can be constitutionally sound if the line between helping the poor and
saving souls is clearly drawn. But often it will not be.
It's wonderful
when political leaders encourage the private sector to get involved
in good works. But to suggest government should shift part of its welfare
burden to churches, through tax-supported subsidies, is folly. Who will
do due diligence on thousands of tiny projects to ensure that religion
and government stay separate? Who will keep my church, or any other,
from slipping federal funds from one pocket to another?
I don't rule out
federal aid to social service foundations that are church-run. Today,
through various branches of the government, religiously supported housing
and other nondiscriminatory outreach programs get government funds alongside
other nonsectarian community organizations. But an initiative that would
water down existing regulations crafted to ensure a high degree of church-state
separation is unnecessary and dangerous.
If he sincerely
wishes to help religious social service programs in America, Mr. Bush
might ponder this: Many of these efforts depend in large measure on
the generosity of citizens who, while wanting to do good, are also motivated
by the prospect of a tax deduction. When it comes to charitable donations,
in other words, slashing estate and income taxes for the richest Americans
will hamper religious good works far more than any government subsidy
will advance them.
If Mr. Bush truly
believes in individual action rather than government interference, he
ought to think twice before cutting high-end taxes and subsidizing churches.
© Forrest Church 2000
