The Secular Coalition for America calls on Congress and the next president to remove all charitable choice language from current law, overturn all faith-based initiative executive orders and end the culture of preference for faith-based organizations as conduits for federal social service funding.
In this topic:- Summary
- Position Statement
Faith-based initiatives (also known as "charitable choice")
Both secular and religiously-affiliated entities have long received funding from the United States government to provide social services. Until recently, all organizations receiving funds had to follow the same rules and regulations. In the mid-1990s new rules (called "charitable choice" and, later, "faith-based initiatives") were adopted, allowing religious organizations to receive federal funds without having to follow non-discrimination and religious liberty protections.
The Secular Coalition for America is working to restore civil rights protections to our public policies and to end the culture of preference for religious organizations as agents for providing social services.
Charitable choice and faith-based initiatives must be overturned because:
- they violate the rights of social service workers by allowing religious organizations to discriminate in hiring by favoring coreligionists;
- recipients of these federally funded social service programs are subjected to unwanted religious program content and symbols;
- the Government Accountability Office found that participating religious organizations are not adequately guided to ensure that funds are not inappropriately used to advance the religious missions of the organizations; and,
- the Supreme Court in Hein v. FFRF abdicated its role to protect citizens from unconstitutional executive branch funding of religious organizations and activities by giving the President near absolute authority in how discretionary funding can be used.
