Guest Post by Morbo
When the Supreme Court decides not to hear a case, it’s not usually considered big news. It might get a few lines the newspaper.
But often the high court’s refusal of a case is good news and should not be overlooked. That happened on Monday when the court said it would not hear a case from Michigan dealing with the “faith-based” initiative.
A few years ago, officials with the Michigan Family Independence Agency decided they no longer wanted to send abused, neglected or troubled young people to a facility called Teen Ranch. Teen Ranch is run by fundamentalist Christians, and it soon came to light that the staff was compelling youngsters to attend religious services.
Instead of just accepting the loss of funding or changing its policies, Teen Ranch officials decided to sue. They got free legal representation from the Alliance Defense Fund, a right-wing outfit founded by TV preachers and their allies. In court, ADF attorneys made the bizarre argument that the state’s refusal to continue funding Teen Ranch was a form of discrimination.
Thankfully, the courts did not buy it. A U.S. District Court held:
“Teen Ranch acknowledges that it overtly and unapologetically a Christian facility with a Christian worldview that hopes to…improve the lives of the youth it serves by encouraging their conversion to faith in Christ, or assisting them in deepening their pre-existing Christian faith.”
The court said this goal could not be funded with tax money. A federal appeals court later upheld the ruling. The Supreme Court’s refusal to hear the case means it is kaput.
What’s interesting about this case is that it exposed the Religious Right’s real goal when it comes to “faith-based” programs.
They don’t just seek equal treatment, as they often assert. Instead, Religious Right attorneys argued in court that the government’s failure to fund religion was a form of discrimination.
Imagine if this view won court approval. I suppose the government would then have to fund every religious group that decided to open its own Teen Ranch. Tax funds for Hare Krishna Ranch? L. Ron Hubbard Ranch? Flying Spaghetti Monster Ranch? Hmmmm.
It’s bad enough that federal and state governments routinely funnel untold millions in tax funds to “faith-based” groups every year — now some of those groups are insisting that any refusal to fund them is discrimination. They are saying, in effect, that they have a constitutional right to your tax dollars.
I also have to wonder what’s going on in other states. Sure, Michigan officials closed off the tax spigot for Teen Ranch., but what are they doing in Alabama?
Here’s a crazy proposal: If you like your religion, you and your fellow congregants can pay for it and all of its projects. People who like another religion should pay for that one. Those who dislike all religions don’t pay for any. The government stays out of it entirely and funds only secular public services. It sounds radical, but it just might work.