Our Endangered Values, by Jimmy Carter: on Welfare & Poverty


Jimmy Carter: Faith-based initiative channels tax funds to churches

Government funding of social programs through "faith-based initiatives" appeals to religious groups who have no qualms about breaking down the historic wall between religion and government. They substitute certain charitable services in a religious environment for more broad and equitable government programs. These initiatives bypass the historic implementation of the First Amendment by channeling taxpayers' dollars to churches and other religion-based providers of social services under contrived rules that allow for proselytizing and putting religious tests on hiring employees. The initiative even provides taxpayers' money to build and renovate houses of worship. There is no doubt that the goal is to finance programs that are clearly religious, and the annual level of somewhat surreptitious government funding through religious institutions has now reached about $2 billion.
Source: Our Endangered Values, by Jimmy Carter, p. 60-61 Sep 26, 2006

Jimmy Carter: 2000: Greatest challenge is growing chasm of rich vs. poor

As the year 2000 approached, I was invited to speak at a major forum and asked this question: "What is the world's greatest challenge in the new millennium?" It was an interesting question, and I replied, with little doubt, that the greatest challenge we face is the growing chasm between the rich and the poor people on earth. There is not only a great disparity between the two, but the gap is steadily widening. At the beginning of the last century, the 10 richest countries were 9 times wealthier than the 10 poorest ones. In 1960 the ratio was 30:1. At the beginning of this century, average income per person in the 20 richest nations was $27,591 and in the poorest nations only $211, a ratio of 131:1!
Source: Our Endangered Values, by Jimmy Carter, p.179 Sep 26, 2006

Jimmy Carter: Habitat for Humanity: build homes for poor, without interest

One of the most natural ways to reach out to needy people has been through Habitat for Humanity, with its international headquarters just 10 miles from our home. We lead a group of volunteers for one week each year to build homes somewhere in the world. We have done this for more than 20 years in ghetto areas, rural towns, and in Mexico and South Africa. We plan to build homes in India in 2006.

We work side by side with poor families who will be able to own the houses because Habitat follows the biblical prohibition against charging interest. This has been an enjoyable and heartwarming opportunity for us and many others to put our religious faith into practice, and it demonstrates vividly the importance and difficulty of reaching out to needy people.

Source: Our Endangered Values, by Jimmy Carter, p.185 Sep 26, 2006

William Rehnquist: "Separation of church and state" is metaphor & bad history

Chief Justice William Rehnquist, in a US Supreme Court minority opinion, has written, "The 'wall of separation between church and state' is a metaphor based on bad history, a metaphor which has proved useless as a guide to judging. It should be frankly and explicitly abandoned."

Government funding of social programs through "faith-based initiatives" appeals to religious groups who have no qualms about breaking down the historic wall between religion and government. They substitute certain charitable services in a religious environment for more broad and equitable government programs. These initiatives bypass the historic implementation of the First Amendment by channeling taxpayers' dollars to churches and other religion-based providers of social services under contrived rules that allow for proselytizing and putting religious tests on hiring employees.

Source: Our Endangered Values, by Jimmy Carter, p. 60-61 Sep 26, 2006

  • The above quotations are from Our Endangered Values:
    America's Moral Crisis    ,
    by Jimmy Carter    .
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