In this issue:

• Detroit area faith-based funding summit
• House bill proposed the use of church funds to influence votes
• A critical time for Atheists
• Michigan Atheists State Convention
• About the newsletter

Detroit Area Summit Scheduled For 10/11-10/12 To Discuss Faith-Based Funding

Leaders of various religious organizations are holding a summit with Detroit-area businesses and government officials to discuss "the latest models and best practices" of faith-based programs in Detroit and elsewhere.

The workshops and discussion panels scheduled during the event will include perspectives from government, private, faith-based, and university sectors on the subjects of housing, community, economic, and youth development as well as "human capital". The organizer of the event, BRIDGES (Detroit's faith-based network), has brought together a panel of speakers from areas of government, religious institutions, and businesses, which include: City of Detroit, Comerica Bank, HUD, NAACP, Catholic Archdiocese, ACCESS, Latino Family Services, Jewish Vocational Services, The Muslim Center, Christian Business Network International, St. Paul Cathedral, MSHDA, Compuware Corporation, Presbyterian Village, Federal Reserve Bank, YO! Movement, Mack Alive, Federal Home Loan Bank, LISC, Bank One, Detroit Medical Center, Skillman Foundation, WARM, Crosswinds, and Phoenix Construction.

Funding for faith-based programs include private sources, such as the $1 million grant from the Ford Foundation, and a combination of government and private grants funneled through Michigan Neighborhood Partnership, which has provided over $6 million to faith congregations over the past seven years. Michigan Neighborhood Partnership has collaborated to organize a fund to target low-income neighborhoods with faith-based community development programs. While the goal of the faith-based programs is "strengthening individuals, families, and neighborhoods through social and economic development", faith-based programs have had a history of including proselytization as an integral part of the services they provide. Many homeless shelters, for example, require people to pray before they receive a meal, and several homes for "reforming" children in the South include a strong element of religion. In the Detroit area, there appears to be no set of procedures in place to supervise the application of the faith-based funds, and, when funds from government and private organizations are mixed with funds from religious institutions, the line between which activities are funded by government money and which are funded by religious contributors may be blurred. With little or no supervision, religious organizations may misuse tax dollars to proselytize to the low-income, disadvantaged families as part of their programs.

Take Action Against Bills Supporting Use Of Religious Funds To Endorse Candidates, Influence Elections And Issus

from American Atheists

• HR 2931, called the Bright-line Act, would permit churches and other religious groups to use 20% of their annual untaxed income for lobbying efforts. Another 5% may be donated directly to candidates. Rep. Phil Crane (R-Illinois) introduced the bill, and co-sponsors include Majority Leader Dick Armey (R-Texas), whip Tom DeLay (R-Texas), and Charles Norwood (R-Georgia). Several religious-right groups support the bill, including the Traditional Values Coalition, led by Rev. Lou Sheldon.
• HR 2357, titled the "Houses of Worship Political Speech Protection Act", sponsored by Rep. Walter Jones (R-North Carolina), is designed to "amend the Internal Revenue Service Code of 1986 to permit churches and other houses of worship to engage in political campaigns." Seventy-one members of the House have endorsed the bill so far.

According to IRS rules, churches and other religious groups may not participate in overt, partisan political campaigning while maintaining tax-exempts status. Houses of worship have circumvented this rule by establishing "shadow committees" that do everything that other special interest advocacy groups do, including lobbying over legislation and contributing to political campaigns. In the past, cases have surfaced involving entanglement between churches and politics:

• The Church at Pearce Creek in New York was caught running newspaper advertisements, urging people to vote against Bill Clinton because of his position on abortion.
• The Roman Catholic church's leaders have been known to pressure lawmakers with threats of excommunication and damnation if they vote contrary to the position of the church on various issues.
• Catholic leaders have also participated in blatant issue advocacy campaigns for voucher aid to religious schools.
• Almost all of the religious organizations in the United States campaigned for special rights legislation in the form of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA), the Religious Liberty Protection Act (RLPA) and the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act of 2000.

Take action! Write to Michigan's representatives in Congress to help stop this legislation. Visit http://www.atheists.org/action and peruse the sections on CONTACTING CONGRESS and TIPS ON WRITING. Snail-mail has more of an impact than e-mail, so letters are encouraged. Telephoning is also recommended as an effective means of communicating with members of Congress.

• the effect the bills would have on separation of church and state. Since Americans already enjoy personal rights that allow them to support political candidates and speak out on issues, these bills address a "problem" that does not exist. Giving houses of worship special power to influence political campaigns invites excessive entanglement between religion and government.
• the stronger temptation on the part of religious groups to use their "spiritual" influence over their congregations to advance their political agenda. Many Americans already believe that permitting religious groups to dictate political choices goes beyond acceptable limits.
• "soft money" and bankrolling political candidates through large, wealthy entities (corporations, for example) already presents the problem of certain groups having a strong ability to influence legislation for their own ends. Adding religious groups--more large, wealthy entities--compounds the problem, taking even more influence away from individual citizens and handing it over to special interest groups. When these groups maintain tax-exempt status, they should not have a right to dictate what is done with tax dollars.
• Many Americans believe that churches enjoy too much political influence as it is. Dividing the nation further along religious lines is not a good idea. When competing churches divide over endorsement of opposing political candidates or opposite views on an issue, conflict is inevitable, and history has shown us that this conflict can be violent.
• Who will monitor houses of worship to make sure that they are in compliance with the new guidelines? Churches feel that it is an invasion of their privacy to have government entities audit their financial activities, but it would be wrong for the government to audit the books of non-religious political groups, private citizens, businesses, and other special interest groups if churches are not also audited.

For additional information on these bills, visit http://www.atheists.org/flash.line/elec25.htm.

A Critical Time For Atheists

The actions of political leaders, religious groups, and the media after the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon have created a somewhat hostile environment for Atheists in America. With "God Bless America" appearing everywhere (shame on Congress for spewing forth a blatant prayer-in-song), staff editorials and letters from readers to editors bashing Atheists and calling for more prayer in schools and public venues, and everyone from the media to government officials dictating to us that the grief of the September 11 tragedy must be dealt with through prayer and religious services, Atheists must stand up for separation of church and state now more than ever.

Religious groups and individuals now believe that they have clear government sanction to promote religion in all areas of American life. Americans United for Separation of Church and State succumbed to the pressure, backing off (temporarily, we hope) from their campaign to remove displays of the Ten Commandments. The media has largely ignored Atheist opinions and issues, spawning comments like "One can't help but notice the silence of atheists these days" from a member of USA Today's Board of Contributors, Kathleen Parker.

We must continue to fight for our right to freedom from religion. We cannot waver, as other groups have done, nor can we be silent. Two major parts of this fight include organization and funding, the latter of which we lack severely, and the former including a very few of the Atheist population in our country. It has been said that organizing Atheists is like herding cats, but we must redouble our efforts to encourage atheists to join us and contribute to our efforts. Our opposition is well-organized and well-funded, and they feel stronger than ever in their efforts to gain political support for religious interests.

What can you do? Write Congress. Write your local and national newspapers. Join in local protests. Grab media attention wherever possible. All of these actions may be taken with little or no money--they simply involve your time and commitment to issues that affect Atheists.

If you have friends who are Atheists, closeted or not, encourage them to participate in our efforts and have courage to stand up for themselves. Encourage them to join our organization and keep them abreast of issues. Invite them to dinners, conventions, and other events sponsored by Michigan and American Atheists.

Money is crucial to our efforts, as well, and anything you can contribute will help us. We must fight in the courts, in city councils, state legislatures, the U.S. Congress, and elsewhere, and much of it does take money.

At this critical time for separation of church and state, we must boldly challenge the efforts of faith-based organizations to tip the balance in their favor and tear down the wall. For more information on how you can help, contact the director of Michigan Atheists, Arlene-Marie, at amarie@atheists.org, or visit http://www.atheists.org [At the time of distribution of this newsletter, michiganatheists.org did not exist.]

Michigan Atheists State Convention

The Michigan Atheists state convention will be held on November 3 at the Holiday Inn Livonia-West, 17123 Laurel Park Drive North, Livonia from 9:00 AM until 5:00 PM. This historic event is dedicated to Henry Morgan to honor his more than 25 years of service. Join us as we roast Henry at a gala luncheon. Our list of speakers includes:

• Conrad Georinger: Listmaster of AANews and contributing editor of the American Atheist Newsletter
• Robert Brooks: Accomplished and popular speaker in the Detroit Metro area
• Frank Zindler: Scholar, science writer, and editor of American Atheists
• Paul Kondon: Past president of Atheist Society at Western Michigan University

For registration and further information on the event, e-mail Arlene-Marie at amarie@atheists.org.

About The Newsletter

If you have news to contribute, please send it to Greg Reich at michiganatheistsnewsletter@comcast.net. The main intention of this newsletter is to inform Atheists in Michigan of news and events pertaining to us, and call us to action when necessary. However, as time and space allows, opinions and other special sections may be added. Advertising is welcome, and will go to fund a hard-copy version of the newsletter. If you have friends who would be interested in subscribing to this electronic newsletter, please have them send their subscription request to AtheistGR@aol.com. If you have friends without computers who would be interested, feel free to print and distribute as many copies as you like.

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