August 2008
Church-State Questions for Members of Congress & Congressional Candidates
*** Please note that these questions are for individuals to use when speaking to candidates in person, when contacting them directly via e-mail or when raising church-state concerns in letters to the editor. These questions are not intended to be submitted by groups as written questionnaires to candidates for public office.***
The best way to find out where and when public appearances are planned by your members of Congress is to contact their offices and ask. Sometimes town hall meetings and public appearances are scheduled on short notice, so you may wish to call and check in more than once. Find contact information for your members of Congress.
Faith-Based Initiative
Though the initiative has been promulgated through executive orders and regulatory changes, Congress has thus far stood strong in fighting back any attempt to legislatively weaken the civil rights laws that all government grantees are expected to follow. In fact, in the 110th Congress, advocates of church-state separation won an important victory: the defeat of a measure that would have rolled back a longstanding non-discrimination provision in the authorization of Head Start. If passed, the measure would have allowed religious discrimination in hiring employees of Head Start programs.
Under President Bush’s Faith-Based Initiative, the rules governing the partnerships between religious organizations and the government have been changed notably. After seven years of the initiative, we have seen the erosion of the wall separating church and state and the undermining of vital civil rights protections in federal social service programs.
Question: I am opposed to religious discrimination in hiring in publicly-funded programs. If faith-based groups get public money to run social programs, they should abide by the non-discrimination laws that others do. Do you think faith-based organizations should be allowed to discriminate in employment on the basis of religion in federally-funded social service programs?
Click here for the latest news on coalition efforts to encourage presidential candidates to restore civil rights protections in federally-funded programs.
Christian Nation
Question: The United States has a rich history of allowing religious diversity to flourish thanks to our constitutional guarantee of religious liberty. Despite this longstanding commitment, leaders on the Religious Right often claim that America is a “Christian Nation.” Do you agree with this statement?
Click here to learn more about the “Christian nation” myth.
Church Politicking:
According to the IRS, non-profit organizations that receive 501(c)3 tax-exempt status must refrain from endorsing or opposing — or giving the appearance of endorsing or opposing — candidates for political office. Despite this requirement, some clergy and leaders of congregations issue official endorsements in an effort to persuade members to vote for or against a particular candidate. Some members of the clergy have endorsed candidates from the pulpit, or produced written materials in support of or opposition to certain candidates on official church materials. In response to the attention of the IRS to this issue, some legislators have proposed changing the rules, allowing houses of worship to endorse or oppose candidates while maintaining their tax-exempt status.
Question: I believe that houses of worship should not be allowed to disregard the obligation to avoid partisan electoral activity that all non-profit organizations must uphold. All clergy and congregations have the right to openly discuss their positions on political issues, but specific candidate endorsements cross the line. Do you think houses of worship should be allowed to endorse political candidates and retain their tax exempt status?
For a full overview of the church politicking issue and how you can help ensure that the law is followed, visit our Project Fair Play website.
School Prayer:
Forcing public-school students to participate in religious worship at official school functions has been declared unconstitutional. Despite this, many legislators believe that prayers should be held at graduations, assemblies, football games, and other school events. This is true even though the prayers and ceremonies, at times, conflict with the students’ and their families’ personal beliefs. Some say that students should just opt out of the prayer, but students can’t opt out of the classroom and they shouldn’t have to forgo graduations and football games. Plus, many students are afraid to try to opt out because of pressure from their classmates, teachers, and school officials.
Question: Do you believe that the public schools should be leading prayers and worship for students or should that task be left to the students’ parents?
Click here for more information about the school prayer issue. For an interesting read check out, “Why I’m Against Pre-Game Prayers: An Evangelical Christian’s Story.”
Creationism v. Evolution:
According to scientists, evolution is the only credible explanation for how life on earth has changed over time. Despite the claims made by religious groups that aim to undermine objective science, there is no controversy surrounding evolution in the scientific community. Accordingly, creationism and its spin-offs, including “Intelligent Design,” have been declared unconstitutional and inappropriate for the public-school classroom. Proponents of creationism, however, have tried to create openings for their religious ideals to be taught in the classroom, supporting such strategies as “academic freedom” legislation, which would allow teachers to “teach the controversy” surrounding evolution and would even allow teachers to introduce non-traditional, religiously-biased texts into the classroom. Such attempts are simply new strategies to introduce religious teachings into science classes.
Question: I believe that creationism has no place in public school science classrooms. What is your view of attempts to undermine the teaching of evolution and science in our schools? Will you oppose efforts that attack the teaching of evolution in our nation’s science classrooms?
To learn more about the creationists’ latest strategy, please see the Eroding Evolution: Religious Right Forces In Louisiana Try New Tactic To Smuggle Religion Into Public School Science Classrooms article from Church & State magazine.
Vouchers
Public funding of private schools has proven ineffective in meeting the needs of students in underachieving school systems. School vouchers take much-needed funding away from our public schools and direct it toward private schools, many of which are religious. Because religious schools integrate religious instruction throughout their curricula, school vouchers force taxpayers to fund the teaching of religious beliefs with which they may not agree. Student achievement does not improve under these programs.
Question: I am opposed to public funds going to pay for private religious schools. Do you think taxpayers should be forced to subsidize religious instruction through the use of taxpayer funded school vouchers?
Click here to see some myths and facts about private school vouchers.
