Oh, gee, here we go again with this issue of World Relief (one of the top nine, maybe ten, federal refugee contractors) apparently requiring its workers to be Christians and being under attack for it. From the Chicago Tribune:
A prominent refugee resettlement organization has enacted a policy that requires new employees to be Christian, triggering an exodus of Chicago staff members who denounce it as religious discrimination.
The former director of the Chicago office of World Relief, a global evangelical Christian charity that receives federal funds to resettle refugees, said she was forced out in January because she disagreed with how the policy was implemented. The agency also has dismantled mental health services for refugees in Chicago after losing staff and funding because of the hiring rule, officials said.
“As a Christian, I feel it is my duty to advocate for the most vulnerable,” said former legal specialist Trisha Teofilo, who also left because of the policy. “I believe Jesus would not promote a policy of discrimination.”
The hiring policy comes as President Barack Obama* faces pressure to reverse former President George W. Bush’s executive order enforcing the right of organizations to receive federal funds while hiring based on faith. On the campaign trail, Obama recommended halting government contracts with groups that proselytize to clients or hire only members of a certain faith.
Read it all.
To me it is very simple—don’t take goverment money and you can practice your faith and give your love and private charity to whomever you wish. Once you take those 30 pieces of silver you have sold your soul to the government—no sympathy from me.
To see previous posts on the topic, begin here and follow links back to other posts on World Relief and its litmus test.
*Ha! Ha! If Obama does get rid of this policy, then all those Muslim groups (like Muslim ECBO’s) getting federal funding will have to not discriminate against Christians or Jews—won’t that be fun to watch!