'Stimulus' bill discriminates against people of faith

[TyRockwell]

Sneaked in provisions of 'stimulus' bill attempts to forbid faith groups equql access to facilities:


President Obama's stimulus bill discriminates against Christians and people of faith. The stimulus bans universities and colleges from using funds to renovate buildings where students engage in "religious worship."

U.S. Senator Jim DeMint made the following statement after Democrats voted 43-54 against his amendment to strike from the economic stimulus bill language that discriminates against people of faith. Senator DeMint's amendment would have eliminated a provision that bans any university or college receiving restoration funds, from allowing "sectarian instruction" or "religious worship" within the facility. This would in effect bar use of campus buildings for groups like Fellowship of Christian Athletes, Campus Crusade for Christ, Catholic Student Ministries, Hillel and other religious organizations.

"This is a direct attack on students of faith, and I'm outraged Democrats are using an economic stimulus bill to promote discrimination," said Sen. DeMint. "Democrats should be ashamed of themselves for siding with the ACLU over millions of students of faith. These students simply want equal access to public facilities, which is their constitutional right. This hostility toward religion must end. Those who voted for this discrimination are standing in the schoolhouse door to keep people of faith from entering any campus building renovated by this bill.

"This is now an ACLU stimulus designed to trigger lawsuits designed to intimidate religious organizations across the nation. This language is so vague, it's not clear if students can even pray in a dorm room renovated with this funding since that is a form of 'religious worship.' If this provision remains in the bill, it will have a chilling effect on students of faith in America" he continued.

"Our culture cannot survive without faith and our nation cannot survive without freedom. This provision is an assault against both. It's un-American and it's unconstitutional. Intolerant and it's intolerable."

This funding restriction is unconstitutional. In the 2001 Good News Club v. Milford Central School Supreme Court decision, the court ruled that restricting religious speech within the context of public shared-use facilities (or schools) is unconstitutional.

Pages 164-165 of the stimulus contain the following prohibitions on the use of $3.5 billion available for renovation of public or private college and university facilities.

(2) PROHIBITED USES OF FUNDS. No funds awarded under this section may be used for - (C) modernization, renovation, or repair of facilities (i) used for sectarian instruction, religious worship, or a school or department of divinity; or (ii) in which a substantial portion of the functions of the facilities are subsumed in a religious mission; or construction of new facilities.

Former Speaker Newt Gingrich urges Christian activists and other conservatives to e-mail and call their representative and senators demanding that the language discriminating against people of faith be removed.

Gingrich feels that if Christian activists would have enough courage and holy anger to e-mail and call their representatives and senators, a number of Democrats would vote no on final passage. We should demand that this anti-religious provision be removed.

Christians have not expressed enough outrage focused on the concept that people of faith are being taken advantage of by the stimulus bill during a time of crisis. They are being stolen from them when they are down and out and looking in good faith to the government for help. Instead of the stimulus we need, the liberals are getting the pork that they want -- for themselves, their families, and their friends. They are pickpockets and thieves preying on the down and out.

It's as if the Good Samaritan had come over to the man who was robbed and left for dead, bent over, and reached for his wallet and ran on his way instead of helping. It's like the looter who takes advantage of a natural disaster to steal."

The liberals are taking advantage of a crisis, just like Rahm Emanuel said. His quote: "'You never want a serious crisis to go to waste,' Rahm Emanuel, Mr. Obama's new chief of staff, told a Wall Street Journal conference of top corporate chief executives this week." - WSJ, Nov. 21, 2008.

America is in crisis, and the liberals are looting America's future to pay off their special interests. This is corruption of the highest order. E-mail and call your representative and two senators today!
Take Action! Send an e-mail and call your representative and two senators today! Tell them to remove the language discriminating against people of faith. In addition, please take the time to call your representative and two senators. The phone number where you can reach both your representative and two senators is 202-224-3121.

[OtherCheek]

America is in crisis, and the liberals are looting America's future to pay off their special interests. This is corruption of the highest order. E-mail and call your representative and two senators today!
Take Action! Send an e-mail and call your representative and two senators today! Tell them to remove the language discriminating against people of faith. In addition, please take the time to call your representative and two senators. The phone number where you can reach both your representative and two senators is 202-224-3121.

"You never want a serious crisis to go to waste... This crisis provides the opportunity for us to do things that you could not do before." - (Rahm Emanuel, Obama's Chief of Staff)

Stalin could not have said it better than Rahm did.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2140486/posts

[Cyrus Johnson]

Sneaked in provisions of 'stimulus' bill attempts to forbid faith groups equql access to facilities:

...

Pages 164-165 of the stimulus contain the following prohibitions on the use of $3.5 billion available for renovation of public or private college and university facilities.
[INDENT](2) PROHIBITED USES OF FUNDS. No funds awarded under this section may be used for - (C) modernization, renovation, or repair of facilities (i) used for sectarian instruction, religious worship, or a school or department of divinity; or (ii) in which a substantial portion of the functions of the facilities are subsumed in a religious mission; or construction of new facilities.

Read it again.

It says those funds can't be used for structures which have (in whole or mainly) a sectarian, religious function. It does not forbid faith groups from equal access to facilities which otherwise don't have such function.

[TyRockwell]

Read it again.

It says those funds can't be used for structures which have (in whole or mainly) a sectarian, religious function. It does not forbid faith groups from equal access to facilities which otherwise don't have such function.

Er, YOU need to read it again.

It does not say "which have (in whole or mainly) a sectarian, religious function"!

It says, "facilities used for" this would be the opening the ACLU or others would use to say 'no' to letting facilities be "used for" meetings of Fellowship of Christian Athletes, and other faith-based groups.

This alert was not given by alarmists. The call to action was by established freedom of religion organizations, and endorsed by none other than Newt Gingrich, a respected political action committee member and spokesman.

Senator DeMint tried to get the provision removed, and he had quite a number of people vote with him; but not enough to get it changed.

[FlimFlamboyant]

President Obama's stimulus bill discriminates against Christians and people of faith. The stimulus bans universities and colleges from using funds to renovate buildings where students engage in "religious worship."

That's just fine with me. The government throws money at anything they want to control. That's why this economic "crisis" is a godsend for the commies in our current administration. As soon as they start to fund religious entities, run for the hills.

[Seasanctuary]

I am a firm advocate of government neutrality towards religion. It sounds like that principle is being violated here. So, despite being pretty sure Ty wouldn't recognize the difference between neutrality towards religion and the government promoting his own religion, I'll have to agree in this case.

(Though I should note I'm against the bill in its entirety, so technically I'm ok with any funds not being spent on something out this mess.)

[Psychic Missile]

Is this in the bill because churches aren't taxed, and so the government won't be getting any money used in such a way back?

[TyRockwell]

I am a firm advocate of government neutrality towards religion. It sounds like that principle is being violated here. So, despite being pretty sure Ty wouldn't recognize the difference between neutrality towards religion and the government promoting his own religion, I'll have to agree in this case.

(Though I should note I'm against the bill in its entirety, so technically I'm ok with any funds not being spent on something out this mess.)

Try to understand what government nuetrality versus government hostility to religion IS.
Neutrality means neither promoting it nor discouraging/penalizing it.
If students have a student group such as "Future Farmers of America" which has no grade component toward graduation, that meets during non-instructional hours, it is only fair and neutral to allow the Fellowship of Christian Athletes to meet in the same facility.

To say that the Christian group can not have equal access to the facility because it is Christian is hostility, that is, discrimination against religious groups.

There is no truth to the claim that equal access to the facility is promoting religion.

[Seasanctuary]

Try to understand what government nuetrality versus government hostility to religion IS.
Neutrality means neither promoting it nor discouraging/penalizing it.
If students have a student group such as "Future Farmers of America" which has no grade component toward graduation, that meets during non-instructional hours, it is only fair and neutral to allow the Fellowship of Christian Athletes to meet in the same facility.

To say that the Christian group can not have equal access to the facility because it is Christian is hostility, that is, discrimination against religious groups.

There is no truth to the claim that equal access to the facility is promoting religion.

I agree.