Faith-Based Charities Hit Hard by Economic Crisis, and It's Their Own Fault
By Bonnie Erbe, Thomas Jefferson Street blog.
While my heart goes out to the people they serve, I have little sympathy for faith-based charities now hurting in the downturn. They never should have let themselves become dependent on the government largesse, because recessions are cyclical and inevitable, and relying on any funding source to continue forever, be it government or private sector, is unwise. But apparently they have and now many are having to cut back:
The nation's economic woes have led local and state government agencies across the country to reduce contracts and grants or delay payments to the groups, which have been forced to eliminate programs, lay off staff or try to borrow money in a tight lending market.
Unlike state governments, most of which have to spend what comes in year to year, nonprofits can carry over money in good times to use in bad times. That's what these faith-based groups should have been doing, so they had a nest egg to fall back on now. And indeed, joining the opinion of many taxpayers whose tax dollars went to these groups despite their protests, I believe faith-based groups should rely entirely on private donations and should not be receiving public funding at all.
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Reader Comments
Unpaid Contracts
Bonnie,
Part of the story is that many Government entities who have entered into contracts to provide funding for social programs are not honoring their commitments. In the mean time, Wall Street, the auto indistry and other members of corporate America with paid lobbyists get new money.
Regardless of ones views of faith one thing is for certain. The American Goverment(s) from D.C. down to the local level dishonor themselves when they take money promissed to the poor and give it to the rich.
faith based charities
I agree - Faith based charities should be supported by the God that they are teaching. The US gov't is not a God. Therefore it shouldn't be giving any money to them.
I also agree that overall they are poorly run. My family has rental property that we rent to the poor, we accept housing money to provide some decent housing to those who cant afford it. We have done it for forty or so years. What I have experienced is that a faith based charity likes to give for the sake of giving.
I've thrown away pantries full of expired foodstuffs that people have received from food pantries that they don't eat. People who don't eat sweets get boxes of sugary cereals, and jellies, and peanut butter that they don't eat. I know we had a tenant with a religious aversion to ham, yet every time he went to the food pantry- he got a ham, and when he complained, he got two.
I think to some charities the goal is to set a record for how much food they can give away, not to see people get what they can use.
There's been tenants using food stamps for buying lobster, and going to the pantry to get the side dishes. None of the charities ever visit the recipients to see the food going to waste.
One of my friends have a church that sends people to poor nations. They stay in fancy hotels, eat good food, fly first class, and give a pittance to the people. It's a vacation for a few in the guise of charity.
Plus- we must also remember - that churches don't pay taxes, if we had the tax money- it could be going toward sheltering and feeding the homeless.
Thank you Bonnie
In my opinion, the public (government) welfare aid and assistance system is not the role or responsibility of government. When I want to contribute to help others, it is my choice how much and where to contribute. Distribution of my compulsory tax based on my earnings, through the choices of others I do not know, is a reflection of the ordinances of tithing taught by Moses of the Bible. So, no matter what label one chooses to use, the US government is playing the role of the church - yet we say there must be "separation of church and state".
Now, the retirement program called Social Security is not under the category of Health and Human Services because it is a shared payment system designed to provide an investment to the retired. BUT, the funds were drawn from as a general fund to support public welfare, so taxation had to be increased to compensate for the requests of the poor and needy. As things go, Social Security does not return to the people the money it was designed to provide.
Charity is not a government's business. When it is, the government then has a say in the affairs of the private sector, whether church or personal. There again, there is not separation of church and state. Additionally, when a church has a non-profit income tax filing status, there is no separation of influence of the government into the church.
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