Freedom from compassion

The 7th Circuit Court of Appeals, according to Madison.com, has reinstated the Madison-based Freedom From Religion Foundation's lawsuit challenging the validity of President Bush's faith-based initiative on constitutional grounds:

A three-judge panel of the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals on Friday reinstated the lawsuit brought by the Freedom From Religion Foundation that claims Bush's program violates the separation of church and state. The program helps religious groups get government funding to provide social services.

Now, being a member of a non-majority religion, I, especially, am all for the government not forcing faith on me. The Church of England isn't my idea of a good time by any stretch.

But let's consider what the faith-based initiative actually does – not what the Freedom From Religion Foundation wants you to think it does. First, no one is being converted, Baptized or circumcised on the government's dime.

What is happening is that religious charitable organizations are being commissioned by the federal government to do what they do best. This is Uncle Sam having the humility to say that he either can't do what certain religions do – especially in the inner-cities – or can't do as good of a job. So instead of wasting massive amounts of tax money on failed government programs, the cash is being put toward secular efforts led by the faith-based community as a means of maximizing output. (And, yes, these are secular efforts – they just happen to be led by the religious establishments.)

It is a compassionate way of doing business. And it helps the poor in particular – the very class that leftists like the Freedom From Religion Foundation's membership used to dedicate their political lives to defending. But with this lawsuit – as with so much else – we are gradually seeing the re-alignment of political interests, with the GOP becoming the party of the poor and the Democratic Party increasingly serving a cause of atheist litigiousness.