Speaks Out

President George W. Bush announced the creation of the
White House of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives, which would
allow religious organizations to receive government funds. What is
your stance on this decision Manuel
Herrera Third-year Art "I don’t agree with a lot of what
Bush does, and I don’t know what his real intent is with this
program. He may just be trying to cover something up or trying to
make himself look good. Organizations can always find funds in
other ways. We need to keep the church out of government and not
give religious groups too much power." Luke
Walker

Fourth-year

Applied mathematics "I think it’s a good thing. Instead of
giving all our money to the government, we’d give some of it to
organizations that have proven to be better at addressing these
social issues. It helps keep the government’s hands out of them and
I’m all for that. The concept of separation of church and state is
completely misunderstood. It really has nothing to do with this
issue." Leonard Cheung Second-year Business
Economics "As a Christian myself, I think it’s a good idea. I don’t
think he’s trying to give Christian groups more benefits or favor
them over other groups. I don’t think it’s really that big of a
deal; he’s not trying to violate the Constitution in any way. After
all, the services that will be provided are for a good cause."
Sara Raoof Second-year Art history "I think that
President Bush should fund religious organizations. By promoting
spirituality and religion, we’re promoting morals. Not doing so
would mean demoralizing society and culture. Religion gives people
direction, guidelines and family values. I think this program is a
good idea." Jasmine Krishman Second-year
Undeclared "I don’t think Bush knows what he’s doing. He uses the
term “˜faith-based’ to describe those organizations, but
doesn’t really define what he means. I hope it’s not going to be
religiously or culturally biased to include only Christian groups
and monotheistic religions, since Bush did get a lot of backing
from them during his campaign. I don’t support it because it
doesn’t make sense at all." Vanessa Sifuentes
Third-year Chicano/a studies and political science "My concern
regarding this program centers on how Bush is going to justify it
through the Constitution because it severely violates the principle
of separation of church and state. I think it’s really hypocritical
of him to fund organizations that receive sufficient funding from
other non-governmental entities, instead of funding more worthwhile
projects that also address community issues." Speaks Out compiled
by Cuauhtemoc Ortega, Daily Bruin Senior Staff. Photos by Chris
Backley, Daily Bruin. Web adaptation by Hernane Tabay, Daily Bruin
Senior Staff