And, in other What The Fuck news:

[featherynscale]

Yesterday, the president signed an executive order mandating the creation of a Center for Faith-Based and Community Initiatives within the Department of Homeland Security, whose job will be to identify rules, regulations, and other issues which restrict faith-based agencies from operation, and eliminate those rules, etc.

Seriously, kids. Whiskey Tango.

I think this is what was tweaking me about the hallucinogens for religious groups thing the other day. I'm in favor of hallucinogens for religious purposes, but I'm not necessarily in favor of setting precedents which suggest that in general, the laws of a particular religious group supercede the laws of general society. Does it hurt me if some religious sect uses hallucinogens to talk to god because that's their religion? No, probably not. Does it hurt me if santeros are allowed to sacrifice animals to the orisha because that's what their religion says to do? No, probably not. But does it hurt me if pharmacists are allowed to decide that I can't have say, contraceptives, or antibiotics to treat an STD, because their religion says I'm not supposed to be having sex? That'd be a yes, Bob. And does it hurt me if the folks that the government sends in to help after a disaster are church groups that are not inclined to give assistance to homosexuals? Um, yes again, I think. And so on.

Obviously, there's a difference between my first two examples and my last two, and that is that the first two are about things that people do to themselves, or inside their group, based on religious dictates. The second two are things that people do to people who are outside of their religious group. They apply the laws of that group to everyone they encounter, regardless of what laws the person they're impacting follows or doesn't follow. I'm just concerned that our current overlords don't or can't or don't care to make that distinction.

Comments

[celticwhistlin.livejournal.com]

Being in emergency management, I have always been torn regarding the use of faith-based groups for emergency response. I will tell you flat out that they will always be there and that the government, local, state and federal will be continuing to rely on them as a resource. They have *tons* of money. They have *tons* of personnel. They have *tons* of "I want to help and the government will not help you" mentality (which is true to a point).

The difficulty that I have seen, that the Red Cross and Salvation Army tries to teach these groups *NOT* to do (when they get a chance), is protheliatize. It happens more often than it should. I saw it happen with Katrina. I saw it happen with the tornado a few years ago. I saw it with the floods of 93. It will continue to happen as long as locals allow them to come help. I see them as a necessary evil.

Shit.

[saffronhare.livejournal.com]

No words. No eloquent words at all, particularly since I happen to do fundraising for one of the organizations that will be looking to take advantage of this.

[matchgirl42.livejournal.com]

B.O.H.I.C.A.

[fred-smith.livejournal.com]

There was this thing on the BBC a while ago about how because some areas of America are so poor and ignored by the goverrnment the church can weild the powers we would normally associate with a government. For instance, being in charge of organising the community, education and social welfare. I doubt that this is going to improve that situation at all.