Global Issues: U.S. Charities Proselytize Overseas Using Public Funds
It’s unconstitutional for faith-based organizations (FBOs) to proselytize using public funds, but some FBOs manage to circumvent these rulings by conducting their evangelistic charity projects overseas. In a recent article for Firstpost, an Indian website, Rupa Subramanya argues that this may begin to strain foreign relations, just as it strains the boundaries of constitutional law.
“Despite uncertainty about whether it is even constitutional, given the U.S. First Amendment’s ‘establishment clause’ separating church and state, FBOs have played an important role, starting during the administration of President Bill Clinton, carrying through that of George W. Bush in a significant way and continuing into that of Barack Obama,” Subramanya writes, referring to what is now the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives.
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