Tuesday, July 1, 2008

As the Air is Slowly Let Out of the Tire...

Well it looks like political expediency has derailed the Obama campaign, at least as far as I'm concerned. First the dissing of the 4th amendment with his backsliding on telecom immunity, then his acquiescence to the SCOTUS ruling on gun control and his equivocation on the death penalty. Now the straw that broke the camel's back with his support for "faith-based" initiatives. Looks like Bush in sheep's clothing to me. I'll still vote Democratic, but once again as the "lesser of two evils." quite a come down from some earlier wishful thinking.

Below is the full text of the Council on Secular Humanism's response to Obama's recent address on faith:

PRESS RELEASE

July 01, 2008

Senator Obama’s Concession to Faith-Based programs unfortunate, says Council for Secular Humanism

The Council for Secular Humanism regrets that Senator Barack Obama has seen fit to affirm a willingness to extend the unconstitutional faith-based diversion of tax dollars to religious institutions as begun by President Bush. “This is basically religious pandering,” said Ronald A. Lindsay, executive director of the Council for Secular Humanism.

In a speech delivered today in Zanesville, Ohio, the Democratic candidate for president proposed that federal money diverted directly to churches, mosques and synagogues would promote a “bottom-up” approach to serving the nation’s underprivileged, regardless of the fact that the money taxed from the public is meant for secular purposes. And although he stressed that the money can only be used for secular programs, the result will be the same, as regular contributions not used for these programs are freed to proselytize, make building improvements and grow the faith community—a clear favoritism of believers over nonbelievers.

“We find it regrettable that the current climate in the United States requires candidates, who obviously should know better, to promise grave compromises of the wall of separation between religion and government in order to even stand a chance of being elected to high office,” continued Lindsay

The Council is disappointed that Obama’s plan appears to allow federal funds to flow directly to houses of worship. "Not only does this impermissibly entangle religion and government, Obama's plan threatens the autonomy of religious bodies by allowing government intrusion directly into the activities of the house of worship," said Lindsay. "The audits, compliance reviews, and reporting requirements that the government will have to perform to account for the funds will threaten the autonomy and integrity of the house of worship."