Source: The Economist:
THE perennial debate about religion and politics in America has a new point of reference: a bill passed a few weeks ago by a bipartisan majority in the House of Representatives to permit the allocation of federal disaster relief money for the reconstruction of houses of worship damaged last fall during Hurricane Sandy. The bill is vigorously opposed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the organisation that distributes relief funds. The editorial board of the New York Times is against the proposed change, as is the American Civil Liberties Union. (The Anti-Defamation League initially objected to the bill, but has backtracked.) Opponents are worried that the move will breach the constitutional “wall of separation” between church and state—a metaphorical partition introduced to American jurisprudence by Thomas Jefferson in his 1802 letter to the Danbury Baptists.
Categories: Americas