We have speculated previously about the question of whether one of the Top Ten federal contractors resettling refugees applied a religious litmus test for volunteers (here and here). Now comes a story from Seattle that World Relief will hire only Christians.
Saad Mohammad Ali had volunteered for six months at World Relief, helping the agency resettle arriving Iraqi refuges, when a manager suggested he apply for an Arabic-speaking caseworker job.
The 42-year-old SeaTac resident had been an interpreter for the U.S. government in Iraq before coming to the U.S. two years ago — himself as a refugee.
With a degree in statistics, strong English skills and basic knowledge of American culture, Mohammad Ali, who now works as a baggage handler at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, could help his arriving countrymen temper their typically high expectations of life in America.
But a few days after he applied for the position last December, the Muslim and father of three got an unexpected call from the same manager at World Relief: She was sorry, she told him, but the agency couldn’t offer him the job because he is not Christian.
Read it all.
Private groups should be able to hire whomever they wish, but the water gets muddy when A LARGE PORTION OF THEIR FUNDING COMES FROM THE GOVERNMENT,* as is the case with World Relief. New readers are always shocked to hear that taxpayers are footing the bill for religious organizations, and in some cases the taxpayer money is literally keeping the religious organization afloat.
My solution continues to be—get these government contractor middle men out of this program. The “charitable” groups could try some old fashioned charity and help refugees for free!
Anyone want to take bets on how soon CAIR will be on the scene!
* This is a principle everyone should firmly plant in your minds, especially in the age of Obama and the expansion of the federal government—-government money comes with strings!