Aborted White House-Salvation Army Deal Reveals Bush Support for...

Aborted White House-Salvation Army Deal Reveals Bush Support for Tax Payer Funded Discrimination
Interview by Between The Lines' Scott Harris

On July 10, the Washington Post reported that the Bush administration -- in an effort to win support for their Faith-Based Initiative in Congress -- negotiated a secret deal with the Salvation Army that would have provided protection to federally funded religious charities that discriminate against gays and lesbians in exchange for the Army's public support for the controversial legislation. Once the deal was exposed however, both the White House and Salvation Army abandoned the arrangement.

The embarrassing revelation highlighted the objections many have to the Bush Faith-Based Initiative. Advocates for retaining the constitutionally mandated firewall between church and state warn that if signed into law, the faith-based initiative could institute taxpayer funded discrimination in employment and services run by religious charities. Some in the religious community also oppose the legislation because of the government regulations that would be imposed on their charitable operations. A vote on the Community Solutions Act (HR 7) that embodies the faith-based initiative was scheduled to take place in the House of representatives as early as July 18th.

Between The Lines' Scott Harris spoke with Wayne Besson, associate director of communications with the Human Rights Campaign, who examines the aborted White House-Salvation Army deal and explains why a growing number of citizens oppose the Bush faith-based initiative(A RealAudio Version of this interview may be found At http://www.btlonline.org) .
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Contact the Campaign by calling (202) 628-4160 or visit their Web site at: http://www.hrc.org

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