Tell President Obama to Keep His Promise

Tell President Obama to Keep His Promise
End Government-Funded Religious Discrimination NOW!

President Obama has thus far failed to fulfill his campaign promise, and people are noticing. Today, every dollar that is funneled to social services via the federal government is subject to the exact same set of rules and regulations put in place by the Bush Administration. That means that an otherwise qualified individual can STILL be turned away from working for a government-funded program based on his or her religion – and the President has done nothing about it yet. In July 2008, Obama announced: “if you get a federal grant, you can’t use that grant money to proselytize to the people you help and you can’t discriminate against them – or against the people you hire – on the basis of their religion.”

But over a year later, the situation looks very different. The regulations allowing discrimination still apply. And worse, the Administration hasn’t touched a 2007 memo from DOJ’s Office of Legal Counsel authorizing unbridled discrimination by religious organizations regardless of statutory non-discrimination provisions. When asked how the hiring issue will be resolved, we’re told that it will be addressed “on a case-by-case basis” and by “the Department of Justice and the White House,” but little further explanation is offered. Needless to say, we’re frustrated.

The LA Times recently criticized the Administration for its failure to resolve this issue, and The New York Times followed suit just this week. “Public money should not be used for discrimination,” wrote the Times, and we could not agree more.

We hope that President Obama will still keep the promise of fairness and commitment to civil rights he expressed when discussing the Faith-Based Initiative in July 2008. But until he does, his Administration needs to hear from people like you. Please contact the White House and let them know that you won’t tolerate government-funded discrimination and that it must end clearly and immediately.