Back on November 26, Jim Towey — Director of the Office of Faith Based and Community Initiatives — held an online chat to answer questions about the faith-based projects which President Bush championed before and after his election.
Towey really flubbed a rather simple question seeking to find out if non-Christian groups would have an equal footing in seeking funding for Faith Based and Community Initiatives monies,
Colby, from Centralia MO writes:
Do you feel that Pagan faith based groups should be given the same considerations as any other group that seeks aid?Jim Towey
I haven’t run into a pagan faith-based group yet, much less a pagan group that cares for the poor! Once you make it clear to any applicant that public money must go to public purposes and can’t be used to promote ideology, the fringe groups lose interest. Helping the poor is tough work and only those with loving hearts seem drawn to it.
That’s a rather abusive answer for what is a straightforward question, and of course Towey avoids actually addressing the main issue of the question — would Pagan/Wiccan groups applying for money be treated in the same manner as Christian groups?
It’s also extremely insulting for Towey to imply that pagans would only be interested in promoting ideology and don’t have the heart for helping the poor.
Later in the interview, he gives the correct answer to this question when the very same thing is asked about Muslims,
Rob, from Chicago writes:
Why can’t my Muslim brothers and sisters participate as easily in this Administration’s faith based initiatives? Most of the people I know who have any association with the Muslim faith are being harrassed, not helped or supported, at this time.Jim Towey
Muslims are welcomed to participate in this initiative. The issue isn’t whether a group believes in God or not but whether their program works. So the faith-based initiative isn’t faith-specific. I think America needs to do all it can to avoid religious rivalry and competition -that is the beauty of our heritage of pluralism.
Why couldn’t he have just said something like that in answer to the pagan question? (And what’s more religiously pluralistic than pagans/wiccans with their odd mix of poly/pantheism?)
Source:
In Focus: Thanksgiving. White House chat transcript, November 26, 2003.