Joined in Augusta by former Christian Coalition executive director Ralph Reed at the session, Goldsmith "explained that the faith-based charities initiatives involved no new monies, it was actually a move to lift the restrictions from the current government funds going to non-profit organizations," Parr wrote. "Religious groups would be allowed to compete for federal money to achieve their missions. If a church was in the business of setting up a soup kitchen, the government money could be used for everything 'except the Bibles,'"

Parr said only Christian clergy were invited to the meeting, which she learned about through publicity in the local newspaper. She said she was particularly disturbed when a representative of a group called "Miracle Makers" told Goldsmith that while his group built houses and did after school training, its real goal was to "spread the gospel." When he asked if his group still would be eligible to receive funds, Goldsmith said it would.

"Faith-based charities is a code word for Christian-based charities," Parr said. "There are some token Jewish organizations (mainly ultra-Orthodox and Chabad) that will benefit from this money. I am not comfortable with the Religious Right (ultra-Christian or ultra-Jewish) proselytizing to their clients. Our government was founded on the principle of separation of Church and State--this is quickly being whittled down. Do we really want to be a religious country like Iran or Israel? Don't we have plenty of wonderful non-profit groups ding social services activities?" --
Donald H. Harrison