Give to religious groups, Bush urges foundations

Religious charities can hire and fire based on religion.
WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Bush urged corporate foundations Thursday not to exclude religious organizations from money they distribute to help America's needy.
"I believe all of us, no matter if we're private or public, ought to allow religious organizations to compete for funding on an equal basis, not for the sake of faith, but for the sake of results," Bush said.
He said an informal survey showed that one in five large foundations bans funding for faith groups.
Bush, who spoke at the second White House conference on Faith-based and Community Initiatives, has been pushing the idea of helping religious charities get a share of federal money since he first took office.
"Our job in government is to set goals and to focus on results," Bush said. "If you're addicted to alcohol, if a faith program is able to get you off alcohol, we ought to say, hallelujah and thanks, at the federal level."
Here's the problem
Critics take issue with the president's insistence that religious charities that receive taxpayer dollars can retain the right to hire and fire based on religion.
Taxpayers are being required to pay for programs where they would not be allowed to work or even volunteer, argues the Rev. Barry W. Lynn, director of the Washington-based Americans United for Separation of Church and State.
Lynn claims the administration is cutting social service spending across the board and using the faith-based initiative to divert attention from the cuts.
A White House report said that in fiscal 2005, religious charities received $2.15 billion in federal grants to administer a range of social service programs for the needy. That was 7 percent higher than the year before and represented 10.9 percent of the total grants from the seven federal agencies that are allowed to issue the money to faith-based groups.
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