The Godless Stimulus
Bill Language Would Forbid Practice of Religion in College
and University Buildings Given Renovation Money
By
Jeff Poor
Business & Media Institute
February 3, 2009
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof…unless your institution of higher learning is getting part of the massive (nearly $900-billion and counting) Obama/Reid/Pelosi stimulus proposal. Both versions of the bill, the House version (H.R. 1) that passed on Jan. 28 by a 244-188 margin, without a single Republican vote, and the Senate version (S. 336), which will probably be voted on in the next few days – include language that would “prohibit” modernization, renovation, or repair of facilities:
(i) used for sectarian instruction, religious worship, or a school or department of divinity; or
(ii) in which a substantial portion of the functions of the facilities are subsumed in a religious mission
Such language is regrettable and could leave some institutions of higher learning susceptible to a legal action by organizations like the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) according to a spokesman from South Carolina Republican Sen. Jim DeMint’s office.
"This is an ACLU stimulus, because any school that gets funds to upgrade a student center or building where Bible studies or religious meetings may be held will be slapped with a lawsuit,” Wesley Denton, spokesman for DeMint, told the Culture and Media Institute. “This bill declares a war on prayer at college campuses in this country. Students have constitutional right to use public facilities regardless of their religious views, and President Obama needs to step in to ask Sen. Reid and Speaker Pelosi to stop this attack on students of faith.”
The bill includes $20 billion for school “modernization, renovation or repair of facilities” – with $14 billion for elementary and secondary schools and $6 billion for higher education, which includes the secular string attached.
The secularization of society has been an aim that has had vocal proponents. David Waters, editor of the Washington Post/Newsweek “On Faith” blog, proposed in his Dec. 3 entry that the phrase “under God” should be removed from the Pledge of Allegiance. MSNBC Hardball host Chris Matthews recently rebuked former Republican vice-presidential nominee Sarah Palin for even invoking religion – saying, “You know, ‘God’s on our side talk’ is very dangerous in the world, because a lot of our enemies talk like that and I just think it’s a dangerous way to talk.”
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