Say Anything Blog

This seems rather stupid to me:

Democrats in Congress have declared war on prayer, say conservative groups who object to a provision in the stimulus bill that was passed by the House of Representatives last week.

The provision bans money designated for school renovation from being spent on facilities that allow “religious worship.” It has ignited a fury among critics who say it violates the First Amendment and is an attempt to prevent religious practice in schools.

According to the bill, which the Democratic-controlled House passed despite unanimous Republican opposition, funds are prohibited from being used for the “modernization, renovation, or repair” of facilities that allow “sectarian instruction, religious worship or a school or department of divinity.”

Critics say that could include public schools that permit religious groups to meet on campus.

I’ve never bought the idea that all of this “stimulus” spending on government buildings and the like can or will create jobs, but the idea of fixing up such buildings is certainly less objectionable than, say, subsidizing free condoms and abortions.  But it’s a little irksome to see schools used for religious worship excluded.

When I was a child my family attended a relatively new Lutheran congregation that was meeting in my elementary school’s gym.  Every Sunday the school would be opened for worship and fellowship, and during the week some of the supplies (the podium, some banners, etc.) were stored in a closet at the school.  For this, the church paid a fee to the school comparable to what any other organization renting out the facility would pay.  Today, the congregation has its own church several blocks away.

To this day, even though my spiritual beliefs (or lack thereof) have lead me away from religion, I’ve always felt that was an entirely appropriate arrangement. After all, the members of the congregation were taxpayers too and certainly have every right to use public property while paying the same fees and abiding by the same rules as other organizations would.  But now the Democrats would stop this practice, and apparently for no really good reason outside of religious bigotry.

And I wonder if this ban wouldn’t expand to groups that aren’t specifically religious but may have religious themes?  Like the Boy Scouts/Cub Scouts, perhaps?  Plenty of scout troops use school facilities for meetings and such.  Would the Democrats be closing the doors on them as well?  And what about high school student groups that might hold before or after school prayer meetings?  Do the clubs have to be closed?

How can the Democrats disallow use of public facilities to the religious?  Are Christians and Muslims and Jews and all the members of the worlds’ religions not allowed equal protection under the law?

I wonder what urgent policy need Democrats are serving by this move.  Because I really can’t think of anything than a dislike of the religious.