March 3, 2005
HILLARY'S FIRST TEST:
House OKs Bill on Faith-Based Jobs: The law would allow groups receiving federal funds to consider an applicant's beliefs. Its prospects in the Senate are uncertain. (Justin Dickerson, March 3, 2005, LA Times)
The House on Wednesday approved a job-training bill that would allow faith-based organizations receiving federal funds to consider a person's religious beliefs in making employment decisions.Under current law, religious groups that receive federal money for job-training programs must obey civil rights laws that prohibit discrimination in hiring or firing.
Passage of the bill, on a largely party-line vote of 224-200, came a day after President Bush told a group of religious leaders that he would attempt to institute the faith-based employment policies through an executive order if Congress did not approve them this year.
In a statement Wednesday supporting the bill, the White House said, "Receipt of federal funds should not be conditioned on a faith-based organization's giving up a part of its religious identity and mission."
Democrats, supposedly chastised by the damage their hostility to religion has caused, disagree. Posted by Orrin Judd at March 3, 2005 8:19 AM
Paging Dr. Pythagoras, you're needed in SR-476 - stat!
Posted by: Luciferous at March 3, 2005 12:54 PMA few years ago I was attending a seminar. In the cocktail lounge of the hotel, afterwards, a group of us got together lamenting the fact that the overwhelming majority of actuarial jobs are in a few major metro areas. I mentioned that I would certainly consider a move to the Green Bay area, considering that a lot of my family live in that part of Wisconsin and the UP, but there really weren't any jobs up there. Another older guy, listening to the conversation, Ed, said that he was the Chief Actuary for the Aid Association for Lutherans, they were based in Appleton, and they were looking for Fellows. I thanked him and said that I appreciated his interest but that being Jewish, even though many of my Upper Midwest family are today various flavors of Lutheran, ELCA, Missouri Synod, Wisconsin Synod, that it would probably pose a problem especially when I had to sign off on that rate increase. He said that, although there was no legal bar,I was probably right and we all had a big laugh.
But in all honesty, why shouldn't the AAL be permitted to hire only Lutheran actuaries?
Posted by: Bart at March 3, 2005 5:07 PMAgain and again, the Republicans set the ambush, and again and again the Democrats march into the killing zone with the band playing and the flags flying.
Posted by: at March 5, 2005 9:24 AM