Bush extends faith-based initiative to Homeland Security

[sabra]

http://www.wlns.com/Global/story.asp?S=4599844&nav=0RbQ

Bush extends faith-based initiative to Homeland Security

WHITE HOUSE President Bush is extending his faith-based initiative into the Department of Homeland Security.

On the eve of his latest visit to hurricane-ravaged Louisiana and Mississippi, Bush has ordered the department which includes FEMA to remove barriers to funding religious relief efforts.

Many Gulf Coast residents have praised faith-based volunteers as being more effective than the Federal Emergency Management Agency in providing relief and reconstruction. But some churches that fed and sheltered Katrina evacuees have complained of delays in receiving promised reimbursement.

[fishnfla]

1. If you could Lord, please send help

Please Dear God a boat!

[babylonsister]

2. Joke, right? You really mean he's separating FEMA from DHS,

right?

[Drum]

3. this is starting to sound like a f&%#ing X-Files nt

[MadMaddie]

4. More of our taxpayer money.....

given away to organizations that we don't necessarily support....

Does anyone see anything wrong with this? Is it just me?

I understand reimbursing the churches that were there right after the storm.....

What I don't understand is why FEMA has still not picked up the slack and why they are not doing their job....FEMA has mismanaged billions of dollars...trailers that will not get to victims still living in tents...ice trucks roaming around the country and misdirected by FEMA...

This is bullshit!! They should not get a dollar more...the money should go directly to the states for the states to determine where the money should be spent....

[adriennui]

5. it isn't just you

religious organizations must not be funded in any way by the gov't.

[Betsy Ross]

6. Pray-For-Pay, what a way to make a living! n/t

[Arkansas Granny]

7. I have a big problem with this on two levels. Not only do I not

want to see government influenced by any religion, but why would a religion take the risk of being influenced by the government? If a church or religious group accepts money from a government, wouldn't they risk having the government proscribe what their policy or teachings would be in order to receive the funds? I have always thought that the separation of church and state was for the protection of both entities.

[aquart]

11. It is. George isn't interested in protecting either one.

Only in exploiting them.

[Theres-a]

19. Who pays the piper,calls the tune

I agree,it is also to protect the churches.This is not good.

[MountainLaurel]

23. The comic "Candorville"

Has done some great toons in the past couple weeks on your second point, with a minister tailoring his sermons to keep the faith-based money flowing.

[Arkansas Granny]

24. And that's what I fear would happen. I'm not a religious person,

but if people who are were to start hearing a government message from the pulpit they could have their judgment influenced.

[arcane1]

42. methinks they just want the money

[Rose Siding]

8. What you did for the least of these, you did for me.

And don't forget, since My kingdom is on earth now, the government will reimburse you.

[uppityperson]

9. Reimburse those that helped and FIX FEMA.

it is simple.

[Coastie for Truth]

10. The "Least Unacceptable" Is the Salvation Army - But Read Here

But it is most definitely a faith based organization. It is NOT Red Cross or Citizen Corps - it is Faith Based--

Doctrines:

1. We Believe that the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments were given by inspiration of God; and that only they constitute the divine rule of Christian faith and practice.
2. We Believe that there is only one God who is infinitely Perfect - the Creator, Preserver and Governor of all things - and who is the only proper object of religious worship.
3. We Believe that there are three persons in the Godhead - the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost - undivided in essence and co-equal in power and glory.
4. We Believe that in the person of Jesus Christ the divine and human natures are united, so that he is truly and properly God and truly and properly man.
5. We Believe that our first parents were created in a state of innocence, but by their disobedience they lost their purity and happiness, and that in consequence of their fall all men have become sinners, totally depraved, and as such are justly exposed to the wrath of God.
6. We Believe that the Lord Jesus Christ has, by his suffering and death, made an atonement for the whole world so that whosoever will may be saved.
7. We Believe that repentance towards God, faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, and regeneration (being born again) by the Holy Spirit are necessary to salvation.
8. We Believe that we are justified by grace through faith in our Lord Jesus Christ and that he that believes has the witness in himself.
9. We Believe that continuance in a state of salvation depends upon continued obedient faith in Christ.
10. We Believe that it is the privilege of all believers to be wholly sanctified, and that their whole spirit and soul and body may be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. (1 Thessalonians 5:23)
11. We Believe in the immortality of the soul; in the resurrection of the body; in the general judgment at the end of the world; in the eternal happiness of the righteous; and in the endless punishment of the wicked.

and

Controversy

The Salvation Army in the USA has come under attack for what some people see as discrimination in hiring and for its requirements on how employees should behave. Despite the tax breaks it receives as a registered charity, and its government funding (about 11 percent of total revenues, in the form of grants and payments for services), it has a stated policy of "discrimination" against applicants and employees whose faith or sexual orientation are not acceptable to The Salvation Army. The Army's position is that because it is a church, Section VII of the US Civil Rights Act of 1964 explicitly guarantees its rights to discriminate in hiring.

In a recent case, the New York Federal Court ruled that organization could use religious criteria in its hiring; that ruling is being appealed by the New York Civil Liberties Union. Other issues in the lawsuit by 19 current and former employees are still under consideration by the trial court.

The State of New York has proposed legislation that requires businesses to offer health benefits to same-sex partners of employees. The Salvation Army opposes this policy and has threatened to close its soup kitchens and shelters across New York.

In July 2001, The Washington Post published a Salvation Army internal memo. According to that document, the Salvation Army and President George W. Bush made a deal: the Salvation Army would support Bush's push on faith based initiatives if Bush made sure that the Salvation Army would be exempt from local and state legislations that prevent discrimination based on sexual orientation. The leak created considerable amount of protest from the gay community and other liberal groups.

BTW - I have worked with the Salvation Army on large local disasters, I have trained/drilled with the Salvation Army, I attend their annual October Prayer Breakfasts (for NGO Emergency Responders), I contribute $$ to them, and I love them and respect them. I just have some First Amendment ("Establishment") issues with paying them.

BTW2 - I am a Red Cross Disaster Assistance Team Captain and Shelter Manager, a Citizens Corps "Community Emergency Response Team" Neighborhood Captain, a Citizens Corps "Radio Amateur Civilian Emergency Service" Ham Operator, and a veteran of the United States Coast Guard (Port Security, Port of New Orleans, LA), and my wife taught school in the Lower Ninth Ward.

[WhiteTara]

12. the man is INSANE

not only is he a monster he is a criminal. The leader he most reminds me of is Caligula, mad emperor of Rome in its latter days of decay.

[Mithras61]

13. So now we get Faith-based Homeland Security?

This should get GOOD! How long before it really IS another Crusade? :popcorn:

[ConcernedCanuk]

14. "How long before it really IS another Crusade?" umm - it started already

.
.
.

2003 to be exact.

I believe the PNACers initially called it "Shock and Awe"

I'm still waiting for the "awe" part.

But I'll admit that watching them "brave" USA military lobbing missiles and bombs from afar from the Gulf and the Mediterranean on a defenseless country shocked me.

Nothing the USA has done since has surprised me - disappointed, disgusted, etc - yes

But the shame of Abu Ghraib and Gitmo, etc. - nope - not surprised

For the USA to back off, make restitution, treat it own citizens with respect -

now THAT would surprise me to no end!!

[Mithras61]

37. Not a Crusade QUITE yet...

we're still letting the muslims live. When we start executing them for being Shi'ite or Suni or Wahhabbi, THAT'll be a Crusade...

[radfringe]

15. will they resurrect Moses

in time for Hurricane season? He can part the lake/ocean to prevent flooding when the levees break again...

[CJCRANE]

16. How Faith-Based Homeland Security works:

Pray something bad doesn't happen.

[truthisfreedom]

17. we need more faith-based voting. and faith-based mars exploration.

let's make this make sense... let's have faith-based atom-smashing. i just can't see another way!

[annabanana]

18. k&r. . . . . . . . . .n/t

[peacefreak]

20. Yet another great idea....

Pray & kiss your ass goodbye.

[CornField]

21. I'm sick of faith-based government

We don't need to know what our officials are doing, we just need to have faith it's the best thing.

We don't need to understand what proposed SCOTUS judges think, we just need to have faith they'll tow the line.

We don't need to know what our President knows (or what he doesn't), because we should just have faith he is kept in the loop and that he cares about the information he's given.

We don't need to know why the Bush administration used faulty intelligence to sell the war in Iraq to Congress and the American people, we just need to have faith that democracy in on the march.

We don't need to know exactly who is spying, when they are spying or even why they are spying -- even if such information includes spying on American citizens, because we should just have faith that our government would never overstep its bounds in such a fashion and that it is all being done to protect us.

We don't need to know exactly how much taxpayer money has been funneled to faith-based organizations or who those organizations are or even what those organizations do with the taxpayer money, because we just need to have faith they will do the right thing.

Faith-based government sounds a great deal like other types of government in our world's past, doesn't it?

[pnwmom]

22. Makes total sense, since faith-based evauation of N.O. went so well

http://delong.typepad.com/sdj/2005/09/new_orleanss_hu.html

From Brad deLong's journal, an article from the Times-Picuyane dated July 2005:


"In the absence of public transportation resources, Total Community Action and the Red Cross have been developing a private initiative called Operation Brother's Keeper that, fully formed, would enlist churches in a vast, decentralized effort to make space for the poor and the infirm in church members' cars when they evacuate. However, the program is only in the first year of a three-year experiment and involves only four local churches so far. The Red Cross and Total Community Action are trying to invent a program that would show churches how to inventory their members, match those with space in their cars with those needing a ride, and put all the information in a useful framework, Wilkins said. But the complexities so far are daunting, she said.

The inventories go only at the pace of the volunteers doing them. Where churches recruit partner churches out of the storm area to shelter them, volunteers in both places need to be trained in running shelters, she said. People also have to think carefully about what makes good evacuation matches. Wilkins said that when ride arrangements are made, the volunteers must be sure to tell their passengers where their planned destination is if they are evacuated. Moreover, although the Archdiocese of New Orleans has endorsed the project in principle, it doesn't want its 142 parishes to participate until insurance problems have been solved with new legislation that reduces liability risks, Wilkins said. At the end of three years, organizers of Operation Brother's Keeper hope to have trained 90 congregations how to develop evacuation plans for their own members."

Something else in the article that struck me -- those of you who know N.O. geography might be able to answer this. Is the area where the Red Cross positioned its shelters (north of Interstate 10), the same area that was barricaded to people who were trying to escape N.O. on foot?

"Believing that the low-lying city is too dangerous a place to shelter refugees, the Red Cross positioned its storm shelters on higher ground north of Interstate 10 several years ago. It dropped plans to care for storm victims in schools or other institutions in town. Truehill, Wilkins and others said emergency preparedness officials still plan to deploy some Regional Transit Authority buses, school buses and perhaps even Amtrak trains to move some people before a storm."

[brooklynite]

25. Not a very high barrier to clear...

Many Gulf Coast residents have praised faith-based volunteers as being more effective than the Federal Emergency Management Agency in providing relief and reconstruction.

Isn't EVERYONE more effective than FEMA?

[cantstandbush]

26. If this doesn't get people in the streets, nothing will.

Oh, I forgot. I said the same thing about the UAE deal. I guess nothing will get them into the streets.

[cantstandbush]

28. How about "Action-based" instead of "Faith-based?"

How about giving support and resources to the people who get out there and help without the backing of a church or "alleged" non-profit organization? Whole communities and churches have volunteered to help Katrina and Rita victims without so much as a thank you from anyone. Some have done it to their own detriment and the Feds WILL NOT even make them whole.

[Nothing Without Hope]

27. ***MUCH MORE IN THIS GP THREAD***

Full text of the sweeping executive order and, in reply #40, a link and excerpt of the outrageous Wash Post article on this. The WaPo frames it as nothing special (it's on page 20), just a nice favor for the Katrina victims. Of course, the language of the exec order is absolutely SWEEPING, in fact sweeping away all semblance of separation of church and state.

Read the full executive order - this is deadly serious and so far there is no opposition visible except for us interent bloggers.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x602831
thread title (3-8-06 GD): Army of God - Homeland Security to Help Spread Faith
LaLa_RawRaw post on new Bush Executive order: “Responsibilities of the Department of Homeland Security with Respect to Faith-Based and Community Initiatives” – link: http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2006/03/20060307-5.html

Two other General Discussion threads on this issue:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x603315
thread title (3-8-06 GD): ALERT: Bush Orders Homeland Security To Help Religious Groups

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x603025
thread title (3-8-06 GD): Merging of the 'christian' Right and the DHS, it's happening people
links to a dKos diary: http://dailykos.com/storyonly/2006/3/8/0440/73933

[Coastie for Truth]

30. If we weren't subsidizing them ....

I would have no problems with permitting them - and encouraging them --- along with the Red Cross, Citizens Corps, the "not quite governmental/not quite NGO" responders (Civil Air Patrol, Coast Guard Auxiliary, Volunteer Fire Departments, Volunteers Ambulance Corps, ).

All I ask is:

*That they comply with the (the Salvation Army and the Southern Baptist Mobile Mass Feeding Trailers do comply with ICS)

*That the "entanglement of money and command, communications, control, and delegation of authority' follows the First Amendment prohibition on an "establishment of religion."

*NO PROSELYTIZING - NONE - NO MATTER HOW SUBTLE.

[stepnw1f]

29. Fucking Fanatical Fascist Traitor

[Nothing Without Hope]

31. I think this thread BROKE THE STORY. Here are ***LINKS*** including the

dKos diary, posted later, that appears to be being given credit for breaking the story:

White House Press Release with text of the Executive Order:
http://tinyurl.com/zoubl

March 8 Washington Post story on this - buried on page 20!!! - which frames it as just a nice thing to do for Katrina survivors, no evidence of concern about what it really means AND NO LINK TO THE TEXT OF THE EXECUTIVE ORDER SO THAT READERS CAN SEE FOR THEMSELVES:
http://tinyurl.com/f5xaa

Two of the Democratic Underground threads on this – the first has the most discussion, the second was posted before the dKos diary and thus apparently broke the story:
http://tinyurl.com/ealk7
http://tinyurl.com/fveue

Daily Kos diary on this, posted at 10:44 PM PDT March 7 by Jeffrey Feldman - that's about 3 hours LATER than the first DU thread I can find on it:
http://tinyurl.com/ff8r7

****************

I have sent this to half a dozen blogs and NO ONE HAS PICKED IT UP. It's up at Raw Story now - with no links to anything and only one introductory sentence plus the text of the executive order - but basically there is a news blackout and a distinct lack of interest. I've also sent it to Keith Olbermann on the off chance that someone will read the email and grasp the huge significance.

I can't believe this thread isn't on the Greatest page.

K & R

[file83]

35. sabra gets the "Deep Throat" award for breaking this story!

:bounce: :applause: :bounce: :applause: :bounce:

[sabra]

41. kewl, can I add that to my resume :-)

peace.

[Janice325]

32. Kicked and recommended

This is just nuts! :banghead:

[file83]

33. Why haven't more of you K & R'd this thread? Shame on YOU!

OP - EXCELLENT POST! :patriot:

[Nothing Without Hope]

34. There is much more info, including a link to the Exec Order, in

a later post:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x602831

But I think this current post broke the story. So far as I can tell, a dKos diary posted it three hours later and - unless there's another one that's earlier - is being credited with breaking the story.

Raw Story has it up now too.

Here are links with tinyURLs so you can copy them and send them around. This current thread is the second one I list for DU because the first one has more info:

White House Press Release with text of the Executive Order:
http://tinyurl.com/zoubl

March 8 Washington Post story on this - buried on page 20!!! - which frames it as just a nice thing to do for Katrina survivors, no evidence of concern about what it really means AND NO LINK TO THE TEXT OF THE EXECUTIVE ORDER SO THAT READERS CAN SEE FOR THEMSELVES:
http://tinyurl.com/f5xaa

Two of the Democratic Underground threads on this – the first has the most discussion, the second may be the first report on it (Mar-07-06 10:33 PM ET)
http://tinyurl.com/ealk7
http://tinyurl.com/fveue

Daily Kos diary on this, posted at 1:44 AM ET March 8 by Jeffrey Feldman:
http://tinyurl.com/ff8r7

[file83]

36. Oh yeah - that's how I found this thread was from your Cross-Link!

Good work to you too! My vote put this thread to the 5 vote mark, thanks to YOU!
:applause:

[Emillereid]

38. Get faith shit out of the government -- this is a dangerous, insidious

slippery slope into the merger of government and religion.

Get James Witt back in charge of FEMA -- and get FEMA out of Homeland Security altogether.

I can testify that under Witt's leadership, FEMA did a spectacular job in January, 1994 when we here in Southern California experienced a major earthquake.

[Nothing Without Hope]

39. WHY IS THIS OUTRAGEOUS, UNCONSTITUTIONAL EXEC ORDER BEING

IGNORED???? THE CORPORATE NEWS MEDIA ARE SUPPRESSING AND DISTORTING IT. They don't link to the executive order text so that you can see for yourself what is happening. Instead, it's falsely framed as just a bit of help for the Katrina survivors.

This whole thing is another choreographed POWER GRAB. Those Katriina survivors NEED HELP BECAUSE OF THE ADMINISTRATION'S DELIBERATE SEQUENCE OF ACTIONS AND INACTIONS. NOW THEY'RE BEING USED AS AN EXCUSE TO MAKE THE US A THEOCRACY, with funds and all support for "faith-based initiatives" - read "CHRISTIAN-only" and open the door to money laundering for GOP.

And it's not even on the DU home page yet!!!

[m0nkeyneck]

40. lord, please save me from your followers

[w8liftinglady]

43. kicking-I'd like to see the Wiccan representative.

[TankLV]

44. Ahh - now the true reason for their PURPOSEFUL lack of action becomes

clear.

I KNEW their responses and excuses were based on something!

[livvy]

46. We think alike. This is what I thought of also.

It makes sense.
This order is wrong. I get a very bad feeling from it. Good to see I'm not alone in this.

[libodem]

45. This just smacks of abuses of the separation of church and state.

They help their own. I can't believe there would be a lot of outreach to outsiders. It's a big reward system for the born-agains who vote for him. He plays off like a Charismatic Christian to the NASCAR crowd and doles them handouts to do charity. Like they don't get enough of a big break not paying taxes especially property tax. Make sure no one undeserving gets a little help. Let those damn drunken bums freeze to death. Let the addicts OD. And let women and children sleep in the street. Arrest them for being vagrant and fill up the overcrowded prisons. Yeah, and don't fund any State Hospitals where the disenfranchised might get any free rehab. end of rant thanks for the vent....I feel better, now

[Judi Lynn]

47. Bush orders faith-based aid center

Bush orders faith-based aid center
Mar 9, 2006, 16:00 GMT

WASHINGTON, DC, United States (UPI) -- U.S. President George Bush has told the Department of Homeland Security to clear the way for federal funding for religious groups in disaster-recovery efforts.

In an executive order, the president asked for the creation of a center for faith-based and community initiatives within 45 days to eliminate regulatory, contracting and other hurdles to the funding, The Washington Post said Thursday.

Bush further asked for pilot programs, outreach and technical assistance. The White House said the president told Homeland Security he wanted 'all existing barriers' identified by September.

Bush`s action follows reports from churches that have not received promised privately raised Hurricane Katrina relief funds and help provided Gulf Coast storm victims by various religious groups.
(snip/...)

http://news.monstersandcritics.com/northamerica/article_1135744.php/Bush_orders_faith-based_aid_center