Interfaith

Op-Ed Articles Respond to Bush's Faith-Based Initiative

January 31, 2001

Source: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

On January 31, 2001, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette published an op-ed piece by Sally Kalson that raised concerns about Bush's faith-based initiative. "If the government says 'no' to the Branch Davidians but 'yes' to the Southern Baptists who are proposing to do the same thing, is that religious favoritism, discrimination or an invitation to litigation?" Will people, she asks, want to support with their taxes the program of a fundamentalist church whose members believe "the more women submit to their husbands, the more peaceful...

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Op-Ed Articles Respond to Bush's Faith-Based Initiative

January 31, 2001

Source: Los Angeles Times

On January 31, 2001, the Los Angeles Times published an op-ed piece on Bush's faith-based initiative by Tamar Galatzan, the Western states associate counsel for the Anti-Defamation League. She warned that "every component of these initiatives [supporting faith-based programs] must abide by legal and practical safeguards. For one thing, President Bush must ensure that recipients of federal funds comply with the requirements and restrictions that are imposed upon all government-funded activity by the religion clause of the 1st...

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Op-Ed Articles Respond to Bush's Faith-Based Initiative

January 31, 2001

Source: Los Angeles Times

On January 31, 2001, the Los Angeles Times published a commentary by Charles W. Colson that defended Bush's faith-based initiative. Colson is chairman of Prison Fellowship Ministries and he served time in prison for Watergate-related offenses. He spoke about the InnerChange Freedom Initiative in Houston, which was started by his ministry. "For 18 hours a day, prisoners who volunteer for the program are immersed in intensive life-skills training and Bible study. After 18 months, they are released, matched with a mentor, given a job...

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Mixed Reactions to Funding of Faith-Based Organizations

January 30, 2001

Source: The Atlanta Journal and Constitution

On January 30, 2001 The Atlanta Jounal and Constitution reported that "as President Bush delivers his faith-based initiative to Capitol Hill today, his proposal to give religious groups greater access to federal funds is already dividing the nonprofit community. Bush signed an executive order Monday creating the nation's first White House Office of Faith-based and Community Initiatives." The program is designed to send as much as $10 billion a year to faith-based organizations, so these institutions can perform...

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Mixed Reactions to Funding of Faith-Based Organizations

January 30, 2001

Source: The Washington Post

On January 30, 2001, The Washington Post reported that "President Bush, giving teeth to his father's decade-old "Thousand Points of Light" initiative, launched a broad governmental effort yesterday to invigorate religious charities and other nonprofit organizations in the battle against the nation's social problems. In the first step of what could be an unprecedented collaboration between the government and nonprofits, the president created offices in five Cabinet agencies and the White House with a charge to ease regulations...

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Op-Ed Articles Respond to Bush's Faith-Based Initiative

January 30, 2001

Source: The Wall Street Journal

http://www.opinionjournal.com/extra/?id=85000511

On January 30, 2001, The Wall Street Journal published an op-ed piece by Stephen Goldsmith, a special advisor to the president for faith-based and not-for-profit initiatives, in which he outlines the principles that he thinks Bush is following in his faith-based initiative. These are the principles: the faith-based programs will serve as an addition to, not a replacement for, government action...

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Mixed Reactions to Funding of Faith-Based Organizations

January 30, 2001

Source: The Interfaith Alliance

http://www.interfaithalliance.org/Newsroom/press/010130.htm

On January 30, 2001, The Interfaith Alliance (TIA) based in Washington, D.C. issued a news release on their "concerns about Bush's faith-based proposals to fund religious ministries...Clergy from across the ideological spectrum are raising concerns about...excessive government entanglement in the affairs of religious institutions, and [the temptation to] manipulate faith to...

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Mixed Reactions to Funding of Faith-Based Organizations

January 30, 2001

Source: The New York Times

On January 30, 2001, The New York Times reported that "flanked by an array of religious leaders, President Bush today signed two executive orders that throw open the doors of government to religious and community groups as part of a broad effort to refashion the way government delivers social services...The move is likely to be applauded by many religious leaders and Americans who believe that faith has long been the missing ingredient in government programs for the homeless, drug addicts, prisoners, the mentally ill and the...

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Mixed Reactions to Funding of Faith-Based Organizations

January 29, 2001

Source: Anti-Defamation League

http://www.adl.org/PresRele/Rel_ChStSep_90/3748_90_bush_letter.html

On January 29, 2001, the Anti-Defamation League wrote a letter to President Bush applauding his faith-based initiative, and asking him to "maintain essential constitutional safeguards for protecting both religious organizations and beneficiaries." The safeguards should protect beneficiaries from unwanted proselytizing, protect against government funding of...

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U.S. Responds to Earthquake in India

January 29, 2001

Source: The New York Times

On January 29, 2001, The New York Times reported that "the diaspora kicked into high gear over the weekend, as Indian-Americans, reeling from the shock of calamity back home, scrambled to deliver relief to the earthquake-ravaged western Indian state of Gujarat." All over the U.S., Gujaratis took collections to send home as soon as possible, as they waited anxiously for news of relatives and friends. "Worshipers at temples of the Swami Narayan, a predominantly Gujarati Hindu sect, contacted their sister temples in Gujarat to send...

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CAIR Supports Bush's Faith-based Initiative

January 29, 2001

Source: Council on American-Islamic Relations

On January 29, 2001, the Council on American-Islamic Relations expressed its support for President Bush's faith-based initiative program. CAIR Executive Director Nihad Awad said that "Muslim individuals and groups in cities around America work daily to provide free medical care, housing for the homeless and the abused, rehabilitation for prison inmates, as well as social services and relief for victims of natural disasters. In this vital work, the government should act as a supporter, not as an obstacle to overcome....

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Use of Jesus' Name in Bush's Inauguration Discussed

January 29, 2001

Source: Star Tribune

On January 29, 2001, the Minneapolis Star Tribune published a commentary by Alan Dershowitz on Franklin Graham's dedication of Bush's inauguration to Jesus Christ. Graham's "particularistic and parochial language," claimed Dershowitz, "excluded tens of millions of American Muslims, Jews, Buddhists, Shintoists, Unitarians, agnostics and atheists from his blessing...The plain message conveyed by the new administration is that Bush's America is a Christian nation, and that non-Christians are welcome into the tent so long as they agree to...

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U.S. Responds to Earthquake in India

January 28, 2001

Source: The Columbus Dispatch

On January 28, 2001, The Columbus Dispatch reported that "hundreds of central Ohioans this weekend are organizing prayers and fund-raisers to benefit victims of the Indian earthquake while they await news of family members living near the epicenter." 30 to 40 percent of Bharatiya Hindu Temple's 2,000 members have relatives in Gujarat state, the area hardest-hit by the earthquake. The 800 members of the Gujarat Mandal Association of Central Ohio spent the weekend calling India to learn what happened to their relatives. Special...

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