Reply #3: Bush's Faith Plan Faces Judgment

[Judi Lynn]

Bush's Faith Plan Faces Judgment
Courts Assess Mission to Give Federal Funds to Religious Charities

By Alan Cooperman
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, October 20, 2005; Page A25

Chalk up a big legal victory for President Bush's effort to help religious charities get taxpayer funding. And score a symbolic win, too, for those who think Bush's "faith-based initiative" is just pork-barrel politics in disguise.

Bush's big victory came Sept. 30 in New York, where a federal judge threw out most elements of a religious discrimination lawsuit against the Salvation Army. Eighteen employees claimed they were fired or demoted because they refused to pledge support to the Salvation Army's mission of "proclaiming Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord," disclose what church they attended or name gay co-workers.

U.S. District Judge Sidney H. Stein noted that all the plaintiffs worked for a children's services division of the Salvation Army that gets 95 percent of its $50 million budget from government grants.

But the judge's 48-page opinion upheld the principle that a religious group can hire and fire employees on the basis of their religious beliefs and practices, even if their salaries come from taxpayer funds. That principle is at the heart of the Bush administration's policy.
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http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/10/19/AR2005101902122.html?nav=rss_politics