Letter: Faith-based service funding should be OK

Friday, Jan. 30, 2004 | 5:11 a.m.

WEEKEND EDITION

Jan. 31 - Feb. 1, 2004

There is an ongoing debate about the faith-based initiative, which means having religions more involved in providing services to the homeless.

Fifty years ago, religions were involved and no one questioned it. After all, religions consider service to the neediest as among their basic tenets.

The First Amendment states, in part, "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion ..." How does funding faith-based organizations establish a state religion? It doesn't! Yet that is the argument!

Catholic Charities and The Salvation Army are religious and they serve the homeless with a minimum of proselytizing, or none at all. Why not have more religions join in this necessary work? Agnostics and atheists claim their rights are being violated, under the First Amendment, when government funding is given to religious organizations. In a democracy, the majority rules, yet we allow a tiny minority to inflict their views that funding and professing religious views in government violates the First Amendment.

FRANK PERNA