In another political aftershock from the summer’s rare East Coast earthquake, a bid by the mayor of Washington to secure federal aid for the damaged Washington National Cathedral is drawing criticism from those who say it runs counter to separation of church and state.
Mayor Vincent C. Gray is seeking $15 million from the Federal Emergency Management Agency for repairs to the cathedral, which was seriously damaged in the 5.8 temblor Aug. 23.
But Joseph L. Conn, director of communications for Americans United for Separation of Church and State, blogged on the organization’s website, “Asking the taxpayers to pick up the tab sets a very bad precedent and jeopardizes a critically important edifice that protects us all: the wall of separation between church and state.”
TEC’s got zillions of bucks…..let [b]THEM[/b] foot the bill!
Plainly unconstitutional. The ACLU ought to sue.
#1 Cennydd
[blockquote]TEC’s got zillions of bucks…..let THEM foot the bill! [/blockquote]
If you mean the endowments, the Presiding Bishop has just mortgaged them to the hilt so she can be beastly to South Carolina. No money for mission, no money for cathedral repairs – all to Beers, Goodwin Proctor and Parker Poe.
Not to put to fine a point on it, but since it is close enough to a known earthquake fault to suffer damage in a quake, what (insert pejorative) was responsible for not properly insuring the building?
I’m normally very sympathetic to Americans United for Separation of Church and State, but this case is a little complicated. While the cathedral’s “official” capacity in matters of state is muddled, it provides a clear public good in certain circumstances. After all, it has been the go-to location for *lots* of high profile memorial services; see Reagan. Plus, as a resident of DC who appreciates its iconic stature in our skyline, I think it’s worth the $15M. And, folks, if maintaining key national landmarks is a priority to any of us, then $15M is just not that much money.
Money is the only way to get the attention of the liberal cabal running the TEO. $15 million from the government means they can carry our their nefarious plans with more impunity. They have the money. How about selling 815?
The Catholic bishop of Washington D.C. called on Catholics to give to the rebuilding program. This is wrong, too.
Have you noticed how one way this is? Note the the increased drive to eliminate Religion from the secular sphere along with the increased drive to subject religion to secular control. See:
http://www.firstthings.com/onthesquare/2011/10/defending-our-first-freedom
and
http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/281303/euthanasia-spreads-europe-wesley-j-smith
And the interference in Church employment practices.
In all these case is the common theme that we have religious freedom except when we don’t and that secularism controls when we don’t, and individual religious conscience always seems to loose out to other “rights”. Such as abortion or, in Europe to killing others.
It’s a nice gesture on the part of the mayor, but if I were dean, I would turn him down.
Just out of curiousiy, how was it designated the “national’ cathedral in the first place? Is this a self-assigned designation?
CM, three reasons:
(1) It is the presiding bishop’s cathedral, even though he/she is almost never there, and therefore it is PECUSA’s national cathedral.
(2) It was intended from the start to serve as a church for state funerals and other national occasions.
(3) The actual name of the place, “The Cathedral Church of Saints Peter and Paul”, is too cumbersome for anyone to use more than once.
Personally, I don’t care where the money comes from. I want the cathedral repaired. Despite the heretics currently in possession of it, it remains a glorious edifice raised to the glory of God.
Very few people in DC, or in the nation, care or know anything about TEC politics. An equally tiny number of people who inhabit or have visited DC will want to see this glorious building fall to ruin.
Evan, I agree, but let TEC pay for the repairs! They can use the endowment funds to pay for them, instead of immorally spending that money on lawsuits against faithful Christians.
Amazingly, it was the Episcopal Diocese of Washington that sued the District of Columbia back in 2008 charging them violating the First Amendment by supporting a religious institution to stop them from donating some property to a homeless mission (the Central Union Mission). And that was just out of meanness because the mission was run by people affilliated with the ACNA. The story is here: http://babybluecafe.blogspot.com/2008/09/bishop-chane-files-lawsuit-against.html . Though the Dioceses’ complaint seems no longer to be online. The hypocrisy is breathtaking.
There’s no evidence of hypocrisy in the blog post — DC’s current mayor is the one who made the request.
Oh, I understand that the DC govenment might be acting consistently. And I also suspect that the leaders of the Epsicopal Diocese of Washington don’t think it is hypocritical at all to actively try to thwart a little homeless mission getting some small amount of city funding – because that would violate the separation of church and state – while asking the city to give them some funds to rebuild their church because, well, just because they want it. But it is.
They don’t need it, of course, because the Soper trust for the benefit of the cathedral, has enough for the repairs (or did, since the accounting leaves something to be desired). But the Diocese has been trying to bust that trust so the Bishop could spend it on other things without oversight. If they had to spend the Soper trust on the repairs, they would not be able to spend it on all the other things that you don’t need to know about and for which no one would give them the money.