Scheme Gives Religious Groups Special Treatment, Including Right To Discriminate With Public Funds

President George Bush's "faith-based" initiative rolls back vital civil rights protections, according to Americans United for Separation of Church and State.

Bush touted the plan today, January 15, 2004, in New Orleans in a visit to Union Bethel AME Church, a predominantly African-American congregation. Later in the day, he was scheduled to lay a wreath at the crypt of Dr. Martin Luther King in Atlanta.

Americans United, which has spearheaded opposition to the Bush plan, said the president is misleading the public about its true character.

"For years, the government has worked with religious groups to provide social services," said the Rev. Barry W. Lynn, Americans United executive director. "But religious groups were required to play by the same rules that secular agencies followed.

"President Bush wants to give religious groups special treatment," Lynn continued. "He clearly has no understanding of the separation of church and state. The government has no business funding salvation and religious conversion. That's the job of our houses of worship."

Continued Lynn, "Under the president's plan, churches would be allowed to discriminate in hiring with public funds. That's taxpayer-subsidized job discrimination. This initiative would roll back nondiscrimination rules dating back to Franklin Delano Roosevelt's administration.

"It is hypocritical of President Bush to lay a wreath at the grave of Dr. King on the same day he is pushing a plan to roll back vital civil rights protections," Lynn said. "This is disgraceful.

"Our Constitution forbids government-funded religion," Lynn concluded. "President Bush is trying to overturn two centuries of church-state separation."

The Bush initiative is stalled in Congress because of constitutional and civil rights concerns. Meanwhile, however, the administration has pushed for implementation through executive orders. Most religious and civil rights groups continue to oppose the president's plan.