Court ruling won't affect faith-based grants, official says
Court ruling won't affect faith-based grants, official says
Feb. 27, 2004
By Shanta Bryant Gyan*
The U.S. Supreme Court
United
Methodists in Iowa are asking the U.S. Supreme Court to review a lower
court�s decision that a church can be sued for using the term �the
spirit of Satan.� The Supreme Court, at One First St. N.E. in
Washington, begins and ends its one-year term on the first Monday in
October. About 8,000 petitions are filed in a term, along with more than
1,200 additional applications that can be acted upon by a single
justice. A UMNS photo by Franz Jantzen, Collection of the Supreme Court
of the United States. Editors note: mandatory credit, Franz Jantzen,
Collection of the Supreme Court of the United States. Photo number
03-294, Accompanies UMNS #432, 9/11/03
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.
*Gyan is a freelance journalist based in the Washington area.