Quote:
|
Originally Posted by CarneVaca
Extremely dangerous. Setting aside the issue of stave v. religion, the idea that that these organizations will start taking on the roles that belong in government agencies can only mean that poor people who need help the most will get screwed in the end. We are moving backwards by doing this.
James Madison warned about this kind of thing:
Madison founded Kerry's party and authored the Bill of Rights. In 1811, as President, he vetoed "An Act incorporating the Protestant Episcopal Church in the town of Alexander, in the District of Columbia." He gave several reasons for the veto, and closed with this still-applicable conclusion:
"Because the bill vests in the said incorporated church an authority to provide for the support of the poor and the education of poor children of the same, an authority which, being altogether superfluous if the provision is to be the result of pious charity, would be a precedent for giving to religious societies as such a legal agency in carrying into effect a public and civil duty."
|
I agree the govt. should provide assistance. It is just that the govt. essentially screws up everything it touches. So, if the govt. can give some of this resp. to a private charity that does it ten times more efficiently than the govt. (which would not be hard to do
) and the govt. does not discrimminate between the religions when it provides financial aid. Interestingly, we then get into the Establishment Clause and why it was put in there, which was not to make the US establish an official religion a la The Church of England and all of the fighting and bloodshed associated with it. I mean if the govt. provides financial support to all religious charities (Jewish, Catholic, Muslim, Wiccan, etc.) then how is that establishing one religion for the land
Thus, it probably is not a violation of the Establishment Clause.
I do, however, think it is a slippery slope and it scares me to think people like Pat Robertson will get tax dollars, even though they alreasy do because most Churches are taxed differently, etc., and I am SURE they claim all of those cash collections
