MnIndy: "Faith-based Minnesota Teen Challenge cannot evade scrutiny"

[Avidor]

Senator Klobuchar seeks $500,000 for MN Teen Challenge.

Please call her office and ask her to withdraw the earmark.

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http://minnesotaindependent.com/20334/know-the-truth-cannot-evade-scrutiny

If you accept taxpayer money, you have to accept that you’re going to receive public scrutiny.

That simple point seems to be eluding Minnesota Teen Challenge (MNTC), the faith-based drug treatment program which secured a federal earmark in early 2008 arranged by Rep. Jim Ramstad, for its “Know the Truth” program which aims to prevent drug use. According to Sen. Amy Klobuchar’s Web site, the senator is requesting (PDF) an additional $500,000 this year — a sum that would more than double the program’s budget. MNTC is becoming ever more dependent on public money. Operating close to the border of church and state, the group’s members are unrealistic if they think their work is not going to get attention.

(I’ve requested a comment on Klobuchar’s earmark request and will publish it here as soon as it is received).

MNTC officials were upset by my coverage of their public statements, publicly available employment application materials and publicly available information about their ties to the national organization that spawned the local operation. Maia Szalavitz, a Huffington Post writer with expertise in traumatized youth, also wrote about the Ramstad earmark. While Szalavitz and I published similar articles on the same day, we haven’t ever communicated with each other.

In response, MNTC executive director Rich Scherber sent a nearly identically worded letter to both the Minnesota Independent and the Huffington Post.

The point of my article was not to suggest that MNTC was not successful or beneficial, as Scherber implies. Rather it was to point out the overtly religious nature of the organization and that the program has historically been controversial. In the interest of brevity, I left some examples out. For instance, MNTC’s stance on Halloween verges on the comical (”Halloween is a day set up totally for Satan … The more people who go out dressed as demons, ghosts, witches and goblins, the more glory Satan receives”). Scherber’s claim that the Holy Spirit told an MNTC bus driver to avoid the 35-W bridge on the day of its collapse in August 2007 is touching but, let us say, unverified.

I don’t question that faith-based programs can be very effective for those that share the programs’ faith. Faith is a huge motivator in people’s lives. I think MNTC has been very effective for the clients it serves. However, I don’t think it’s appropriate for judges, prosecutors or public defenders to suggest the program as an alternative to jail. (Szalavitz, by the way, vehemently disagrees with MNTC’s claims about its success rate).

Read the rest of the commentary here:

http://minnesotaindependent.com/20334/know-the-truth-cannot-evade-scrutiny

Video - Bush loves Teen Challenge:

http://www.godtube.com/view_video.php?viewkey=2118e33778d34ae8a047

Video: Teen Challenge "Men at War":

http://www.godtube.com/view_video.php?viewkey=732b0ac739bc3fb28faf

Bachmann and Teen Challenge:

http://dumpbachmann.blogspot.com/search?q=teen+challenge

[ogneopasno]

1. I love that list at the end, because it's written incorrectly:

Signs to look for in your children: staying in room alone (OK, check), dressing in black (yep, OK, check)...FRIENDS? My kids has FRIENDS? SHIT!!!!

[Rob H.]

2. "Popular childrens' books like Harry Potter have real demonic spells included."

:spray:

Like "Lumos maxima" or "Riddikulus!" right?

I read Harry Potter, watched "Buffy," and even played Dungeons & Dragons once upon a time. I guess I'm goin' straight to Hay-ull when my time comes. :rofl: