Faith Based to Faith Abased
April 30th, 2008 by David DanskerReligious organizations receiving government money to provide social service programs risk mandatory conversion to state religion. Christian Horizons in Canada was established in 1965 to care for disabled children, and today receives nearly 76 Million per year from the Ontario Ministry of Community and Social Services. That money has strings attached to it. Horizons fired an employee for violation of her moral contract clause prohibiting homosexual relationships. Horizons has been fined $23,000 by the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario for unlawful discrimination in the case.1 The money, however, is not what Canada is really after.
Horizons must also renounce indeed their Christian beliefs regarding homosexuality, and all its employees must successfully complete state catechism classes to undergo training on homosexual rights. In America, church organizations have been accepting Federal funds to help them to offer community programs for after school care, feeding the homeless, employment transition, and other social programs. Restrictions already apply to what religious behaviors these churches may engage in while administering these services, and many have become dependant on the additional financial support faith-based funding brings. But the revitalization of aging buildings and dwindling congregations that tempt many of these churches to seek out government programs will inevitably prove disproportionate to the unholy alliance to come.
Notes:
1. Joshua Goldberg, “Christian Ministry Fined $23,000 in Gay Discrimination Case,” Christian Post, April 29, 2008.
http://www.christianpost.com/article/20080429/32167_Christian_Ministry
_Fined_%2423%2C000_in_Gay_Discrimination_Case.htm