From: Jeff Bone (jbone@jump.net)
Date: Mon Feb 12 2001 - 14:45:53 PST
> ...I tend to approve of
> faith-based social programs.
But the question isn't whether one approves of the programs --- I do, at
least some of them --- rather, it's whether one approves of the fed
confiscating financial resources from corporations and individuals and
distributing them to faith-based organizations that the providers of said
resources may not agree with at all.
Separation of church and state, remember? Very, very important.
Additional problems that might arise: without regulatory oversight of how
those funds are used, how can one prevent, say, dollars allocated to
Jehovah's Own Housing For The Poor and Indigent from getting diverted to
Jehovah's Holy Sinner Liberation Army Arms and Munitions Fund? Quadruple
whammy on that: problems of ethics in gov't funding of religious thought
and messages, increased bureaucracy needed to manage it, and hopeless
entanglement of governmental and religious organizations, loss of economic
efficiency / utility due to administerial and bureaucratic costs along the
way. Ick.
I have no problem with faith-based organizations, or funding faith-based
organizations, or relying on faith-based organizations to provide certain
social services that the gov't has unfortunately decided to provide itself
in the past. I *do* have a problem with funding the fed to in turn fund
religious organizations.
I'd rather the fed give a (possibly capped) direct dollar-for-dollar credit
(not deduction) against federal income tax for charitable donations to
approved organizations independently providing social services. That way
the dollars flow directly, there's no loss of utility, no need for
regulation, and it's voluntary.
jb
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