White House Defends Religion Program
By LAURA MECKLER
.c The Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) - The White House's point man on involving religious groups
in government programs issued a spirited defense of the program Wednesday,
taking on critics who have raised a host of objections to the idea.
``Compassionate conservatism warmly welcomes godly people back into the
public square while respecting and upholding - without fail - benevolent
constitutional traditions,'' John DiIulio, head of the Office of Faith-Based
and Community Initiatives, said in remarks prepared for the National
Association of Evangelicals in Dallas. A copy of the speech was made
available in Washington.
In his most extensive public rebuttal to date, DiIulio defended the rights of
religious groups, even if they receive government money, to make hiring
decisions based on religion.
He said people who don't want government money to go to religious groups
outside the mainstream, such as the Nation of Islam, must realize they are
not entitled to that kind of veto power. And organizations who fear
government money will corrupt their religious core, he said, ``ought to
simply opt out'' of the program.
In 1996, Congress first wrote ``charitable choice'' into the welfare law,
allowing overtly religious groups to compete for government grants to help
welfare recipients. Until then, religious groups had to form secular
affiliates, such as Catholic Charities or Lutheran Social Services, to apply
for money.
Now President Bush wants to extend charitable choice to social programs
across the government.
Churches and other religious institutions are exempt from anti-discrimination
laws that bar bias based on religion, meaning they can legally make hiring
decisions based on religion. Under charitable choice, these groups maintain
that exemption, even if they receive government money.
Civil libertarians who believe the effort is an unconstitutional mingling of
church and state have focused on discrimination. ``That's the softest
unconstitutional underbelly of this whole scheme,'' Barry Lynn, executive
director of Americans United for the Separation of Church and State, said in
a recent interview.
On Wednesday, DiIulio defended the right of churches to discriminate.
DiIulio said getting government money shouldn't require an organization to
hire someone of a different faith but admitted that's ``perhaps the single
most contentious aspect'' of the program. That, he said, would be akin to
forcing Planned Parenthood to hire abortion supporters and opponents.
He said most of the organizations that are probable participants in the
program already hire or accept volunteer help from anyone willing. ``Theirs
is typically an all-hands-on-deck world,'' he said.
Others argue that the program is flawed because it could lead to
nonmainstream religions getting money. Most recently, in an interview with
Beliefnet.com, the Rev. Jerry Falwell said he wouldn't want the Church of
Scientology, the Jehovah's Witnesses or Muslims to get government grants.
``I don't see how any can be turned down because of their radical and
unpopular views. I don't know where that would take us,'' Falwell said.
DiIulio, responding to similar worries, said government will use performance
standards to determine which religious groups get money, just as it does for
secular groups.
``The Constitution gives taxpayers no right to insist that government
decisions, including procurement decisions, will not offend their moral
judgments,'' he said.
AP-NY-03-07-01 1949EST