The Office of Faith Based Initiatives

President Obama signed an Executive Order this week establishing the Office of Faith Based Initiatives.  This is a continuation of a Bush Administration policy that gives public dollars to faith based organizations that do charitable work in their communities.  It works like a grant program.  The church applies for the funds and tells the government how they plan to spend the money and then they get a check in the mail.  The main problem with the program (besides the obvious egregious church-state violation) under the Bush Administration was that organizations that accepted public funds were still allowed to discriminate during hiring practices.  For instance, the “Church of God” could refuse to hire a homosexual, or someone of a different faith, or an atheist.  Even if that person was the most qualified for the position.  Just to be clear, this kind of discrimination is not tolerated in any other program that gets government dollars.  On the campaign trail last year, Obama vowed to reverse the Bush hiring policy. “As someone who used to teach constitutional law, I believe deeply in the separation of church and state,” Obama said last July in a speech that pledged to expand Bush’s office of faith-based initiatives. “If you get a federal grant, you can’t use that grant money to proselytize to the people you help, and you can’t discriminate against them—or against the people you hire—on the basis of their religion.”  Advocates and opponents of this program have been watching closely to see if he was going to live up to the promises.  Well, he didn’t.  He punted.  He said he’s going wait on a legal review before making a decision on hiring practices. In the mean time, the hiring policy still stands.  I’ve been following Obama since 2004 (ardently since 06) and I am a strong supporter.  With that being said, I am not surprised that he is expanding Bush’s office of Faith Based Initiatives.  Anyone who has read Audacity of Hope knows that he has a strong conviction for church outreach and charity.  Does that bother me?  Somewhat, but I’ve learned to live with it.  Does it bother me that he is not aggressively addressing discriminatory hiring practices by organizations accepting tax dollars?  HELL YES!!!  I know I’m about to upset some people, but I don’t give a shit:  How can the first black President of the United States tolerate any kind of discrimination?  This policy needs to be reversed now.  Fuck a legal review.  It’s discrimination at its core.  If your church wants to discriminate against qualified candidates because of their beliefs or sexual orientation, fund your projects from your coffers.  

Phil and I will be discussing this issue live Sunday night 2/8/09 at 11pmET on the Atheist and Theist Radio Hour.  Join us in the chat room or call in with your take on this issue.

Pro-Atheist Ad Coming to Charleston

On Monday, the Secular Humanists of the Low Country, the same group that brought us the “In Reason We Trust” license plates, along with the American Humanist Association are putting up a pro atheist billboard in Charleston, SC.  The ad will read “Don’t believe in God?  You are not alone.”  The campaign will definitely be controversial and hopefully go a long way to promoting dialogue. Secular Humanist Vice President Herb Silverman says, “We expect it to generate a mix of reactions from surprise, curiosity, and even uplift.”  The billboard will be placed on highway I-26 near the Spruill Avenue exit.

I am extremely excited about this even though Charleston is about a 3 1/2 hour drive from here.  If anybody sees it in person, send me a picture and I’ll post it.  Hopefully this is just the beginning.

President Obama stated in his inaugural address that this was also a nation of non-believers (the first time the words non-believers were said in an inaugural btw.) Now it’s time to give people the opportunity to see that atheists and/or non-believers do live in the bible-belt and their are a lot of us.

From the American Humanist Association website

The Atheist & Theist Radio Hour 11pmET

Tonight January 19th 2009, on the Atheist & Theist Radio Hour, Phil and I discuss the inauguration of President-Elect Obama.  Can all Americans, theists and non-theists alike, come together and move this country forward?  Will dogma get in the way of progress?  Check out the show live at 11pmET.  Call in at (646) 716-4689. The chat room will be open at 10:30.  If you can’t make it and you have a question or something that you would like us to address, leave a comment here.  

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/scatheist