Lawsuit
Intends To Force
The Bush Administration
To Recognize The Constitution”
By Gene C. Gerard
09 Ocotober, 2006
Countercurrents.org
Since taking office the Bush
administration has successfully lobbied Congress to budget $500 million
for marriage education programs. Much of this money is slated to go
to religious organizations, despite the fact that the First Amendment
mandates separation of church and state. A recent lawsuit filed by Americans
United for Separation of Church and State (AU) against the Department
of Health and Human Services aims to force the Bush administration to
cease violating the Constitution by funding marriage programs with an
overtly religious slant. If successful, this lawsuit would have a profound
impact on the ability of the Bush administration to continue funding
religious organizations with taxpayer dollars.
The target of the AU lawsuit
is the Northwest Marriage Institute, a Washington State organization
that provides “Bible-based” marriage education and counseling
services. In 2005 the Department of Health and Human Services distributed
almost $100,000 to the institute. The organization describes itself
as providing “faith-based education in marriage” as well
as “faith-based premarital and marriage counseling.” And
the organization’s goal is to “promote successful biblical
principles for everyday life.” Obviously, this is a Christian
organization that espouses a very specific religious viewpoint. All
of which begs the question, why does it receive taxpayer dollars?
Only a month after taking
office in 2001 President Bush promoted the idea of channeling taxpayer
funds to faith-based organizations (FBOs). He even created the White
House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives to oversee the
process. In theory, FBOs provide welfare and community services without
proselytizing. Under the rules of how they are required to operate,
FBOs must hold religious activities at separate times or in separate
locations from the community services they provide, and they must be
voluntary.
But a report released this
summer by the Government Accountability Office, the nonpartisan investigative
office of Congress, found that many FBOs are failing to operate according
to the requirements. The report noted that FBOs don’t always explain
to participants that they have a right not to participate in religious
activities. And FBOs “did not separate some religious activities
from federally funded program services.” While the White House
is supposedly monitoring FBOs for compliance, the report complained
that the Bush administration wasn’t obtaining enough information
from FBOs to know whether or not they were complying with the requirements.
The federal funding of the
Northwest Marriage Institute glaringly indicates just how recklessly
the Bush administration has been willing to use taxpayer dollars. The
institute doesn’t even attempt to disguise itself as offering
marital counseling and education programs that are apart from its religious
objectives. To the contrary, they’re one and the same. According
to the institute, a majority of the residents of Washington do not attend
church; therefore, “the great need was to take biblical marriage
education and biblical counseling to the communities.”
The institute is attempting
to do this in part by offering something called “temperament therapy,”
which consists of “discovering the way God made you.” This
reportedly helps couples improve their marriage. The organization offers
pre-marital and marriage-counseling programs that contain sessions entitled,
“God’s Plan for a Healthy Marriage.” In the programs,
couples “discover tools, embedded in God’s Word, that can
be used in real life to resolve real life problems.” This may
or may not be true. But what is most certainly true is that American
taxpayers shouldn’t be promoting it.
The Northwest Marriage Institute
is an evangelical Christian organization, and much of its counseling
programs appear to be directed at women. According to the institute’s
literature, women are encouraged to follow the example of the New Testament
and influence their husbands by remaining quiet. Women are instructed
to remember, “the Bible says that the husband is the head of the
wife.” And the counseling programs advise women that, “the
Bible says that the wife should submit to the husband.”
Conservative groups will
no doubt accuse Americans United of attacking Christianity by filing
this lawsuit. But the lawsuit was actually filed on behalf of 13 residents
of Washington. A number of these individuals have identified themselves
as Presbyterian, Protestant, Unitarian, and Baptist. These residents
obviously aren’t anti-Christian, or even anti-religion. They’re
simply pro-Constitution.
The First Amendment to the
U.S. Constitution stipulates, “Congress shall make no law respecting
an establishment of religion.” By funding the Northwest Marriage
Institute, and other faith-based organizations, the Bush administration
is violating the law. But this should come as no surprise, given the
willingness of the administration in the last five years to skirt and
ignore the Constitution. If successful, this lawsuit will force the
Bush administration to uphold one of our core values, something it’s
clearly unwilling to do on its own.
Leave
A Comment
&
Share Your Insights