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by Mark Hamilton

President Bush has recently put forward a new proposal to provide government funding to faith-based charities and organizations to carry out social services instead of funding state run organizations. He fully recognizes that faith-based groups have been more efficient in their financial dealings and often more successful in their outcomes. They are unquestionably able to do a better job than the government. Many Christians have been favorably stirred and excited by this proposal. After all, what could be better than the federal government handing over tax monies to advance the Kingdom. How could there be any downside to this? But there are significant questions that should be raised about this.

Who will be able to apply for this money, and what restrictions will it have on it? Should Christians be concerned if this money goes to the Church of Scientology's drug addiction program? Is it all about helping people, or should the Christian community care if people become Scientologists as long as they kick the habit? Should we be concerned about our tax dollars going to the Anti-defamation League? What if the Krishnas receive a government grant to aid the homeless, or the followers of Transcendental Meditation get assistance to help federal prisoners become more pacifistic through meditation?

If this was a Christian nation recognizing the rule and reign of Jesus Christ overall, then it would be easier to support this government policy. Then the church and state could work cooperatively to improve the plight of those in unfortunate situations. But because our United States government has failed to acknowledge the headship of Christ over it, there has emerged an acceptance of the equality of all faith-based groups without any basis for discrimination between them. This means that any recognized religious organization has an equal legal right to the government money to be distributed under Bush's proposal.

The result is that any group, regardless of belief or doctrine can apply for and receive funding. This will include groups in direct opposition to the Christian Faith. This means that my tax money could be used to promote Scientology or Transcendental Meditation. For many, this is as disturbing as supporting pornography through the National Endowment for the Arts, or public funding for abortions. A secular government, such as we have, can only make decisions arbitrarily as to who they will support and who they will not. What, then, is the alternative?

The alternative is to give the money back to the taxpayers, and keep the government out of the business of charity and of social services. One can find little biblical justification for charity being the role of the government. Allow social ministry to be funded by private citizens; cut their taxes and let them keep their money so that they can financially support the programs that are consistent with their beliefs. This should be true for the arts as well.

A parallel situation to that of giving tax money to faith-based groups is the one we face if prayer is legally brought back into the public schools. There is no guarantee that this prayer will be to the God of the Bible, especially in our pluralistic, tolerance-driven, post-Christian culture. In fact, there is as great a likelihood that the prayers will be non-Christian as there is that they will be Christian. In January, I attended the National Collegiate Athletic Association's (NCAA) convention in Florida, and at the banquet the blessing was, "Let us bow before our Higher Power." I found this terribly offensive, and I almost expected God to pull the ceiling down upon us.

A state that is not explicitly Christian will always be better the smaller it is, and if smaller, less harmful to the advance of the gospel. So until our government places itself directly under the reign of Christ, I believe that we should put away our utilitarian tendencies and oppose government grants to faith-based groups, and instead support major tax cuts.

Dr. Mark Hamilton is chairman of the Philosophy Department at Ashland University in Ashland, Ohio. He can be reached at mhamito@ashland.edu or at Ashland University, 401 College Ave., Ashland, OH 44805.

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