Should Religious Groups Get Public Money?

Jan. 25, 2005 — -- Some of the little girls have never dreamed of planning their weddings, but they've envisioned the details of their funerals. They've been to so many of their friends' funerals that they figure it may be the only time they are honored.

Then there's the 12-year-old boy who said he'd never considered going to college or getting a good job. Where he's from, it's not expected of anyone.

They're some of the hopeless youngsters Jon Gibson has encountered through his work with MentorKids USA, a nonprofit Christian group that works primarily with children whose parents are in prison.

There are thousands of children in the Phoenix area whom MentorKids hopes to help "lead productive lives by staying in school, by avoiding crime and avoiding substance abuse," said Gibson, president of the group.

MentorKids USA also hopes to lead children to Christianity through the mentoring they receive, and that has placed the group at the center of an ongoing controversy over whether federal money should be granted to religious groups that provide social services and whether this practice crosses the line separating church and state.

But how to remedy the situation is unclear. Appeasing watchdogs while still funding religious groups would invite what one constitutional expert called a "damned if you do, damned if you don't" situation: to ease concerns of directly funding religion would require more government oversight, but increased monitoring of faith-based organizations would create exactly the type of constitutional crisis that civil libertarians hope to avoid.

When President Bush first ran for the White House in 2000, he promised to change federal rules to allow "faith-based organizations" to apply for federal funds for their social services, a move that pleased his conservative base but riled those who monitor church-state separation.

When Congress, wary of constitutional tangles, would not pass legislation doing so, he created the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives by executive order in December 2002. His action eliminated rules forbidding faith-based groups from being eligible to apply for funding.

White House spokesman Trent Duffy noted that 16 states, including several with Democratic governors, have created faith-based offices, and the goal is to broaden the program to even the local level "to get more people into the game."

Groups applying for funds must explain how they will be used for nonreligious social services, and regulations forbid their use for "inherently religious" activities such as worship, instruction or proselytizing, according to guidelines provided by the office. Recipients are advised to separate those activities "in time or location" from the government-funded services and to carefully account for their use of the money.