So, the Democrats in Congress claim they support people of faith, while preventing a vote two weeks ago on an amendment to the Head Start bill that would have changed the law to allow faith-based groups who get Head Start funds to hire according to their beliefs…. (should a religious organization be required to hire a person from another religion, or none at all?). Democrats made much of their support for faith-based groups while effectively cutting out those that hire based on their religious beliefs.
But yesterday during a House Judiciary hearing, Rep. Steve Cohen (D-TN) went after Monica Goodling’s Christian affiliation, since she attended law school at a Regent University.
If Monica Goodling did something unethical or illegal, she should be held to account for doing something unethical or illegal, not for having attended a Christian law school. I wonder if Rep. Cohen would have asked about Monica’s religious affiliation if she had attended a Jewish law school. I don’t know, but his constituents may want to ask him.
This is part of the exchange according to transcripts:
COHEN: “The mission of the law school you attended, Regent, is to bring to bear upon legal education and the legal profession the will of almighty God, our creator. What is the will of almighty God, our creator, on the legal profession?”
GOODLING: “I'm not sure that I could define that question for you.”
Click here and fast forward to 2:43 minutes to view the exchange between Rep. Cohen and Ms. Goodling (with WPost reporter Dana Milbank giving commentary):
To read about more about Goodling’s testimony, and the exchange with Rep. Cohen read Byron York’s article here.
Comments (4)
"(should a religious organization be required to hire a person from another religion, or none at all?). "
If a church wants money from the government then the government gets to have a say in how that money is spent. If a secular organization wants money from the government, the government has a right to say how that money is spent.
Just as if I give you a hundred dollars I have some right to tell you how I want it spent, unless its an outright gift. What government do you know of in the history of the human race gives out money as an outright gift?
To give a special exemption for churches that want my taxpayer money is unreasonable. You guys want "special rights". Forget it. You want freedom from interference in how you practice your religion? Fine. Just don't expect me to pay for it.
May 25, 2007 1:52 PM | Comment Permalink
Heres an idea: Lets give social services to a faith-based program! And in the name of freedom of religion, we should let them choose who to serve too. If they want to serve only fundamentalist christians, thats their constitutional right.
SOrry about the hundreds of thousands of people are starve because the new faith-based benefits program doesn't consider them religious enough to recieve their money. But thats freedom for you.
How about giving public health to a church too? Oh, im sorry for all those who have an STI, because the church refuses to treat sinners. And it would be unconstitutional for the government to decide who its own money is spent treating, right?
Ending the sarcasm for a moment, it seems absolutly clear to me that the objective here is to get taxpayer money to churches, no strings attached, so it can be used for religious ends - pressuring people into converting.
May 27, 2007 2:36 AM | Comment Permalink
There is room for compromise. Obviously a religious group should never forced to hire someone who does not practice the faith (at least for people who are responsible in some way for evangelical work.
But when a church sets a charity, that charity is separate from the Church's function, and no hiring discrimination should be permitted.
I don't the big deal. I have worked with Catholic Charities for years. I've worked alongside many non- Catholics and several openly gay people. Any church that would hire only people (to provide charity work) who subscribe to their particular variant of the faith can't, in my view, be properly called Christian.
May 28, 2007 7:00 AM | Comment Permalink
Dear Monica,
I live in Indonesia, surrounded by many faithful, honest Muslims. They watched as you lied in court after having taken an oath on the bible, and couldn’t understand why Christians in America think they are following God when they do such a thing.
Thank you for being such a good example of what being a Christian means.
Sincerely,
E. Christensen
PS. I hate to be so direct, but why don’t you tell the truth and then start asking for repentance? Isn’t that part of the process that Christ taught?
May 31, 2007 10:26 PM | Comment Permalink