wfn.org | Court ruling won't affect faith-based grants, official says

["NewsDesk" <NewsDesk@UMCOM.ORG>]

Feb. 27, 2004 News media contact: Tim Tanton7(615)742-54707Nashville, Tenn. 7
E-mail: newsdesk@umcom.org 7 ALL-YE{080}

By Shanta Bryant Gyan*

WASHINGTON (UMNS) - A Supreme Court decision denying a state-funded
scholarship to a student preparing to enter the ministry will not impact
federal grants to religious service organizations serving the poor, according
to a White House official.

Jim Towey, director of the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community
Initiatives, said the Bush administration does not believe the Feb. 25 court
decision will change the White House plan to allow more religious groups
serving poor communities to receive federal funds to carry out social
services, such as drug treatment programs and programs for the homeless.  

He explained that the court ruling was based on a specific provision in the
state of Washington's constitution that prohibits using public scholarships
to finance religious training.

"Yesterday's case was so narrow in its scope," said Towey of the court
ruling, during a Feb. 26 press conference call. 

The Supreme Court ruled 7-2 that Washington state was within its rights to
withdraw a scholarship awarded to Joshua Davey, who was seeking a degree in
pastoral ministries. The Washington state constitution stipulates that
students may not receive the tax-funded Promise Scholarship to pursue a
devotional theology degree.

The court ruling raised widespread speculation that the decision may have
implications for the Bush administration's newly created Office of
Faith-Based and Community Initiatives.

Towey stressed that the faith-based initiative "stands on strong
constitutional ground" and will continue providing federal money to religious
social service organizations. The office was created in 2001 to expand the
role of faith-based and community organizations in addressing social problems
in the United States.

The government official said the U.S. Constitution permits an ongoing
partnership between faith-based institutions and federal grant-making
agencies, and the 
White House faith-based initiative office is "moving forward." 

Yet Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist wrote for the court majority opinion
that the use of federal funds to support religious groups has historically
been a contentious issue. 

"Since the founding of our country, there have been popular uprisings against
procuring taxpayer funds to support church leaders, which was one of the
hallmarks of an 'established' religion," Rehnquist wrote. 

Justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas dissented from the court's
decision, declaring the ruling amounted to religious discrimination. "Let
there be no doubt: This case is about discrimination against a religious
minority," Scalia wrote. 

The Rev. Eliezer Valentin-Castanon, program director at the United Methodist
Board of Church and Society, asserted that the Supreme Court decision is in
line with church policy on the separation of church and state.

"The decision of the court is a good decision because it follows church
policy on the separation of church and state," said Valentin-Castanon. 

The denomination's policy on church-government relations and education states
that people of a particular faith should use their own money to strengthen
the belief system of their particular religious group, but not at the expense
of taxpayers. "They should not, however, expect all taxpayers, including
those who adhere to other religious belief systems, to provide funds to teach
religious views with which they do not agree," according to the policy, found
in the denomination's 2000 Book of Resolutions.

Valentin-Castanon noted that the court's ruling does not preclude the state
from providing scholarships to students attending religious institutions
without the intention of becoming ministers.

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*Gyan is a freelance journalist based in the Washington area.

 
 

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United Methodist News Service
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