gilly54

Dear Senator,

I do not want my tax dollars to go to any religious organizations as is being forced upon us by President Bush's Faith Based initiative, which is in violation of our First Amendment. President Bush needs to be reminded that he is the leader of a secular nation.

I've been reading about this initiative and I haven't been able to see where there are any rules in place or "watchdog" provisions to prevent these religious groups from proselytizing people in order to receive their "social services".

I thought that if any religious group accepts federal tax dollars, they must give up their tax-free status. Is this not the case anymore? In the current fiscal crises that many cities find themselves in, I'm sure they would welcome revenue from churches who opt to receive federal tax dollars and forfeit their tax-exempt status.

Respectfully,

Gilly

Toto

It has never been the case that a religious group that takes federal tax dollars has to give up their tax exempt status. Lots of tax exempt groups get federal contracts or grants.

Groups that get federal funds usually have to promise not to discriminate in hiring, but Bush has done away with some of those regulations.

The arguments against the Faith Based Initiative are that 1) there is no valid research showing that faith based programs have a better success rate than secular programs 2) Bush's proposal would allow churches to take government money but discriminate in hiring against religions that they do not like 3) this is just a big pork barrel program. . . more that you can think of.

gilly54

Thanks for your comments. I want to make sure I'm accurate in my short message. I think I'll just send the first sentence, period. The tone should be sufficient to relay my sentiments on the subject.

Thanks, again.

Gilly