Bush Siphoned Tax Aid To 'Faith-Based' Allies In Overseas Grants

Evidence has come to light that the Bush administration has directed hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars to "faith-based" groups working overseas that toe the administration's line on controversial social issues.

The Boston Globe last month ran a series of articles about U.S. funding of programs touching on health, human sexuality and poverty. Some of the money has been diverted from long-time providers and funneled to groups with no track record of providing aid, simply because they are in line with the administration ideologically.

The Globe focused on the relief group CARE, a humanitarian organization founded in 1945 to assist Europeans displaced by World War II. Given the group's long track record, it would seem a logical ally for the U.S. government. But there is one problem: CARE is a secular agency, and its $50 million contract to fight the spread of AIDS in Africa has been cut off. Instead, the money is going to faith-based organizations.

The move came after U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Pa.) attacked the group as a liberal front, charges that were later echoed by Focus on the Family President James Dobson.

"There was a lot of resentment, a lot of pressure, from the Religious Right feeling that they supported Bush, especially for the second term, and they wanted to get paid their dues, they wanted a piece of the pie in terms of foreign assistance," Kristin Kalla, the CARE official overseeing the AIDS contract, told the Globe.

Most of the religious groups now getting the tax aid eschew condoms and insist on an "abstinence-based" approach to fight AIDS that many health educators say is unrealistic and even dangerous.

Evangelicals who fail to agree have been attacked. Dr. Anne Peterson, an evangelical, was tapped to serve as global health director for USAID, the federal body that oversees international programs. Peterson told the Globe she flew to Colorado to meet with Dobson, but the sit-down did not go well.

The newspaper reported that Peterson said Dobson asked her, "Where do you stand on condoms?" When Peterson replied that as a physician she considers condoms an important part in preventing the spread of AIDS, "Dobson was displeased."

Remarked Peterson, "It was very clear that I did not budge him on the condom issue." Focus on the Family later attacked Peterson during a briefing, and she subsequently resigned.

"I had not expected to have that from the Christian community," she told the Globe. "I had expected to find more resonance with a broader group of people to find a common ground. This is a core good thing to do, help people to stay healthy. It was disconcerting to find that when money is on the table everybody fights harder to get the piece of it."

Critics say funds are being diverted from secular groups at the behest of the Religious Right. They note that an organization called Children's AIDS Fund received a $10 million grant even though USAID's review panel recommended that the group not be funded.

Shepherd Smith, the head of Children's AIDS Fund, has worked with Dobson. He denied that his group is faith based but admitted it distributed funds to faith-based organizations.

CARE and other secular groups sensed which way the winds were blowing and tried to reach out to faith-based organizations. Unfortunately, they connected with the wrong ones by targeting Jewish and Muslim groups.

"We were told repeatedly by staff at USAID directly in meetings that these were not the 'right types' of faith-based organizations that the White House faithbased office was looking for," Kalla said.

CARE ended up giving a $100,000 grant to evangelist Franklin Graham's Samaritan's Purse. Kalla said USAID applauded the move.

A Globe survey of grantees found that 98.3 percent went to Christian groups. Eugene Lin, a former employee in USAID's faith-based office, asserted that evangelicals were favored and said he routinely complained that others were being excluded from funding decisions.

Lin said his supervisor, Linda Shovlain, asked to meet with him about his concerns, an event she described as a "Come to Jesus" meeting. Shovlain kept a two-foot crucifix on her desk, and Lin said he felt intimidated. He was subsequently fired and filed a religious-discrimination complaint.

Copyright Americans United for Separation of Church and State Nov 2006
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