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Gov. Bush encouraging religious groups to provide government services
Gov. Bush encouraging religious groups to provide government services
By Mark Hollis Tallahassee Bureau Posted February 9 2004 Second of two parts. TALLAHASSEE -- Jeb Bush is bringing down the wall between church and state. Religious groups in Florida, especially conservative Christian organizations, are caring for foster children, overseeing adoptions, teaching students from elementary school through college and rehabilitating inmates. Encouraging religious institutions to provide public services is a policy that "now permeates life in our state," says the governor, a converted and devout Catholic who has never been shy about embracing a conservative Christian social agenda. In his first inaugural address five years ago he pledged that state government would pursue a "moral and spiritual awakening." That's a view alarming to church-state separatists and civil libertarians, and the debate about the appropriate roles of governments and religion in Florida has intensified since the December debut of Lawtey Correctional Institution in North Florida, where inmates agree to make religious instruction a part of their confinement. It's the first such prison in the country. Actually, long before Bush, Florida encouraged preachers, rabbis and volunteers of all faiths to provide services and to manage the spending of government funds. Taxpayer-funded vouchers to pay for education in private and church-connected schools exploded into a campaign issue for Bush in 2002, but other administrations gave public money to religious education in the form of grants to religious colleges. Bush's immediate predecessor, the late Lawton Chiles, especially embraced linkages with religious groups and, like Bush, turned to them for political support in election years. What is different now is Bush's boldness in championing Christian conservative issues and the federal backing he has won for his campaign. In addition to the statewide voucher program, Bush has made school prayer, abortion limits, and the legal rights of fetuses and the terminally ill major topics of debate and action in the Legislature. He wants state agencies and churches to work together more and, at a recent prayer rally in Tallahassee, announced he had set up an advisory board to recommend how faith-based groups can get "fair and equitable access to state government." Some of the ideas include creating a bureau within the Governor's Office on faith-based initiatives and helping Florida compete for about $200 million in federal grants for such efforts. The group also has suggested a survey to measure cultural attitudes about marriage in order to formulate a plan on how to make marriages stronger. New rules for federal funding Bush's conservative religious agenda in Florida is no national oddity, in part because his brother has pressed a similar agenda. In his State of the Union address two weeks ago, President Bush renewed his push for faith-based social services. He also has called for new tax breaks to encourage charitable giving and new rules so that religious groups can more easily get federal money. Former Floridian Jim Towey, head of the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives, embodies the connection between state- and federal-level attempts to blend church and state. Towey has visited the state several times with promises of federal funding. And he was working for Aging with Dignity, a Florida nonprofit group he founded, when he signaled his interest in the White House job through his friend, Jeb Bush, who recommended him. Activists are troubled by such plans and connections. Larry Spalding, a spokesman for the American Civil Liberties Union, says government should stay as far away from religion as possible. "We really don't think the government should be involved in the finances of churches," Spalding said. "At some point, you run the risk of deciding which religion you like better rather than what program you like better." The governor is deaf to such complaints. When he needed a new head for the troubled Department of Children & Families, he tapped Jerry Regier, founder of the conservative Christian Family Research Council. As head of Oklahoma's Health and Human Services Department, Regier was an early proponent of government contracts for faith-based organizations. Jeb Bush has stood by Regier even as he has run into criticism for his handling of the department. Bush, instead, has accused the media of an anti-Christian bias. A Legislature of like thinkers Regier recently named a "faith-based coordinator," Delbert R. Palmer of Cocoa Beach, to travel to congregations, synagogues, mosques, the Salvation Army and other community groups telling them how they can get involved with DCF. Alia Faraj, a spokeswoman for Bush, said the governor has asked all state departments to name a faith-based coordinator. DCF also is studying a possible "adopt a worker" program to get churches praying for caseworkers. Regier has started a Character First employee training and recognition program in Central Florida modeled after one by conservative Christian evangelist Bill Gothard. Hundreds of DCF employees are being taught the importance of meekness, deference and obedience. DCF recently got $1.7 million in federal funding to pilot three marriage-strengthening projects during the next three years. Bush expects to get budget authority from the Legislature this spring to get them started. The money will go to three organizations, including Weston-based Practical Application of Intimate Relationship Skills, that will do research and train public, private, nonprofit and faith-based groups in how to counsel couples. The idea comes from Oklahoma's 4-year-old Marriage Initiative, which Regier was to have directed until Bush hired him. Bush has gotten help in pushing his faith-based ideals from a Legislature controlled by fellow Republicans and filled with powerful, like thinkers. Legislators have commissioned studies of how they can overcome legal barriers against funneling federal money into religious organizations. House Speaker Johnnie Byrd proposes putting faith-based organizations to work taking care of children after school while their parents are still working. State Sen. Daniel Webster of Orlando has long been linked with Gothard's group, and when he served as House speaker, he hired several of its devotees for key staff positions. Using clout for Christian ideals The governor's and Legislature's enthusiasm for embedding religious programs and themes into state operations drew national attention last year in the case of Terri Schiavo. After more than a decade of legal wrangling over whether Schiavo should continue to be kept alive artificially, her feeding tube had been removed when Bush swung into action and rammed through an extraordinary bill giving him the right to intervene. He ordered the tube replaced. Religious conservatives hail Schiavo as one of their biggest political victories in recent years. They prevailed over powerful courts, they say, through prayer vigils, Christian radio broadcasts and thousands of e-mail messages to legislators and the governor. Legal scholars and other critics predict that the governor and Legislature's maneuvers to keep the woman alive will be ruled unconstitutional, but the case showed Bush's willingness to use the authority of his office to support a major Christian ideal. That's one reason watchdog groups are disturbed by indications that Bush is trying to influence how courts rule on matters of religion. He has appointed many conservatives and religious fundamentalists to what are known as judicial nominating commissions -- boards that help select new judges. He has that right, but leading Democratic state legislators, ACLU leaders and some legal scholars say the governor has gone too far when they see his top legal advisers pressuring JNCs to question candidates about abortion legislation and posting biblical quotes in courtrooms. Regardless of criticism about his welcoming religion into courtrooms, classrooms and government centers, Bush has not wavered and continues to preach that religious groups can, and must, play a part in addressing social needs. "It's not right that an organization which may have a cross or Star of David or crescent on its walls be excluded from providing a helping hand to someone in need," he said "There are people who create these egregious stereotypes of people of faith, implying bad motives, not based on fact. ... There are all sorts of programs where faith-based programs should be at the table. They should not be excluded." http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/loc...home-headlines Defend your civil liberties! Get information at http://www.aclu.org, become a member at http://www.aclu.org/join and get active at http://www.aclu.org/action. |
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