Many of us in the religious sector decry the systematic abuses of lobbyists in Washington, DC. With that backdrop I read with interest a post titled Lobbying for the Faithful. Here are a few interesting bits from it:
"The number of organizations engaged in religious lobbying or religion-related advocacy in Washington, D.C., has increased roughly fivefold in the past four decades, from fewer than 40 in 1970 to more than 200 today."
...
"Efforts by religious groups to influence U.S. public policy are a multimillion-dollar endeavor, with combined annual expenditures conservatively estimated at more than $390 million."
Do you think that religious folks should be using lobbyists and spending millions of dollars trying to influence public policy. I have my doubts.
NO!
ReplyDelete-- There are groups that lobby against religion. The FFRF is currently looking for any challenge against religion, especially when the government is even slightly involved. (As a note, I do occasionally agree with their cases.)
ReplyDelete-- In Colorado, it is illegal to sell a Bible.
If the religious folk don't lobby in Washington D.C. then their rights will be further eroded. And, as slimy as some of the tactics they may use, a group that lobbies may be the only voice that gets heard. How else can issues from both sides of any debate be heard else-wise?
It isn't illegal to sell a bible in Colorado.
ReplyDeleteI think the objectives of Christian lobbies are to defend Christians and Christian organizations when they have violated the 1st Amendment (displaying the Ten Commandments in a courthouse), to oppose laws that conflict with their religious beliefs (repeal Roe v. Wade) and cause the enactment of laws to impose their beliefs on others (defense of marriage act).
I'm not aware of any secular or non-Christian effort to limit the 1st Amendment rights of any person or church, Christian or otherwise. However, I believe that some Christian organizations are continuously trying to exceed their 1st Amendment rights and to redefine the United States as a Christian-only nation.