Title: Will The Office Of Faith-Based Initiatives Fund All Religions?

Subject(s): RELIGIOUS institutions -- United States -- Finance;

RELIGION & state -- United States

Source: Fund Raising Management, Apr2001, Vol. 32 Issue 2, p17, 2p

Abstract: Discusses issues concerning the Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives in the United States. Issue on which religious groups would benefit the funding; Application for funding by the Church of Scientology.

AN: 4522969
ISSN: 0016-268X
Full Text Word Count: 295
Database: MasterFILE Premier
Section: RE: DEVELOPMENT
WILL THE OFFICE OF FAITH-BASED INITIATIVES FUND ALL RELIGIONS?

As the Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives prepares for business, members of a wide variety of religious organizations, some of them once considered outside the mainstream, are putting together proposals to compete for the newly available funds, The New York Times reports.

While President Bush has asserted that the new program will be open to all religions, critics of the initiative are expected to scrutinize the new White House office to see which groups will receive funding.

Experts don't believe that large organizations such as Catholic Charities or the Salvation Army, which already receive government funds, will have problems receiving additional funding. But the new office has not yet revealed how it will evaluate proposals from smaller, less traditional religious organizations.

The Church of Scientology, for example, plans to apply for funding for its literacy and drug rehabilitation programs. In an interview with the Times during the presidential campaign, then-Texas Governor Bush said, "I have a problem with the teachings of Scientology being viewed on the same par as Judaism or Christianity. This just happens to be a personal point of view. But I am interested in the results. I am not focused on the process."

Phillip Jenkins, author of Mystics and Messiahs: Cults and New Religions in American History, notes that, "Running a faith-based program raises the question, what faiths are out of bounds? Either you fund all faith groups, even groups you radically don't like, or you fund none. ! have nothing against funding everybody, but I think people need to be prepared for the issues that might arise. How do you distinguish between a Methodist and a Moonie? The answer is, you can't."

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