Tuesday, February 2, 2010

Church-State Watchdog Group Urges Obama To Keep Promise To Fix 'Faith-Based' Initiative



graphic courtesy of John Braly

On One-Year Anniversary Of Obama 'Faith-Based' Plan, President Should Ban Government-Funded Religious Bias And Proselytizing, Says AU


February 2, 2010

President Barack Obama should honor his pledge to reform the “faith-based” initiative by banning job discrimination in tax-funded programs and making it clear that public funds cannot support proselytizing, says Americans United for Separation of Church and State.

In a letter sent to Obama today, Americans United urged the president to reverse Bush-era faith-based policies that remain in effect today and follow through on reforms he proposed when he was a candidate.

“We’ve waited long enough,” said the Rev. Barry W. Lynn, Americans United executive director. “The faith-based initiative has serious constitutional defects, and it’s time for a fix. Billions of federal tax dollars are going out the door without adequate religious liberty and civil rights safeguards.”

In a July 1, 2008, speech in Zanesville, Ohio, Obama promised to end Bush administration policies that allowed publicly funded faith-based social services to proselytize and discriminate in hiring on religious grounds.

Read the full press release at www.au.org

PDF Link to the letter delivered to President Obama and Attny-Gen. Eric Holder
http://www.au.org/media/press-releases/archives/2010/02/au-letter-to-obama-2-2-2010.pdf

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