No religious test for government-funded jobs

By K. Hollyn Hollman

February 2006

Of all the challenges the BJC faces, none is as far-reaching and problematic as government attempts to fund pervasively religious entities (including houses of worship) without constitutional safeguards. The BJC has monitored such efforts since "charitable choice" was in its infancy. We continue to oppose the Faith-Based Initiative as the "wrong way to do right," while affirming the many right ways religious entities can work with government to meet needs.

Our concerns focus on threats to religious liberty and to the integrity of religious institutions. Information about the actual distribution of funding is hard to come by. What we know is that the administration is aggressively promoting the initiative through revised regulations and public relations efforts. When crucial questions are raised, they cast critics as extreme secularists. Meanwhile, a legislative impasse on Capitol Hill reveals just how far off-course the initiative has veered.

Working through the Coalition Against Religious Discrimination, the BJC and its allies have successfully prevented legislation that would expand the Faith-Based Initiative throughout the federal government. We continue, however, to combat new attempts to advance the initiative through piecemeal legislation. The most recent battleground involves Head Start, the popular early education program that serves disadvantaged preschool children.

Like other federally funded programs, Head Start prohibits providers, including houses of worship that host the program, from discriminating in hiring on the basis of religion and from proselytizing with government funds. No doubt, these provisions have been a significant safeguard and benefited students and parents, many of whom serve in Head Start programs as teachers, staff and volunteers. These requirements have enjoyed bipartisan support for more than three decades.

Under the guise of the administration's Faith-Based Initiative, some members of Congress are intent on amending Head Start to allow religious discrimination in government-funded positions. In September 2005, Rep. John Boehner, R-Ohio, then chairman of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, led such an effort from the floor of the House of Representatives. The amendment, which repealed an existing nondiscrimination provision, destroyed the bipartisanship that had allowed the bill to be voted out of committee unanimously. After a contentious fight, the House narrowly approved the religious discrimination amendment and the reauthorization bill, as amended.

The bill then moved to the Senate, where again it is being held up for reasons having nothing to do with fighting poverty or promoting early childhood education. The proposed discrimination amendment to Head Start is unnecessary. More than five percent of Head Start programs are administered by religious entities, including houses of worship, operating with constitutional and anti-discrimination safeguards that protect the religious liberty of beneficiaries and employees. Because Head Start prohibits religious programming or proselytizing, it makes no sense to argue that participating religious entities must be allowed to hire based on religion in the government-funded positions.

Statements by former White House Faith-Based Office staffer David Kuo reflect a growing concern that the politics of Faith-Based Initiative, as opposed to substantive goals, dominate. At a hearing on the initiative, Kuo reported that he often heard, "We don't need more funds; all we really need to do is make sure that we have a huge political fight over religious charities' right to hire and fire based on their own faith. That way Republicans will be seen as fighting for religion and Democrats will be seen as fighting against it."

As we continue to fight efforts that damage religious freedom, we must affirm the principle that you should not have to pass a religious test to get a government-funded job. If you know of anyone who works in Head Start that should be involved in this issue, let us know. If you are a social service provider or member of the clergy, join our grassroots effort to prevent government-funded discrimination. Go to www.stopreligiousdiscrimination.org where social service providers and clergy can register their opposition to government-funded religious discrimination.