oving quickly to fill positions in his new administration, George W. Bush today named outgoing Missouri Sen. John Ashcroft as his choice for U.S. Attorney General. Ashcroft, a former state Attorney General and two-term Missouri governor, lost his reelection bid last November for the U.S. Senate. He also waged a brief campaign for the GOP Presidential nomination in 1998, but dropped out even before the primaries when he failed to pick up support beyond a tight circle of religious evangelicals and fundamentalists.

   Ashcroft is best known, though, as the architect of the "Charitable Choice" provision of the 1996 welfare reform act, which made it possible for religious groups to bid on government contracts to provide social services while not departing from their sectarian beliefs. That legislation opened the door of the public treasury to churches, mosques, temples and other faith-based groups. Ashcroft's proposal drew support not only from the Democratic White House, but from many Republicans including President-elect George W. Bush.

   The appointment of Ashcroft for the nation's top law enforcement post drew a quick response from American Atheists President Ellen Johnson.

   "This is the beginning of a real nightmare for civil libertarians and state-church separationists," said Johnson. "With Bush in the oval office and Ashcroft as Attorney General, the full power of the executive branch will be behind the expansion of 'Charitable Choice,' so-called 'faith-based partnerships' and other schemes to put organized religion on the public dole."

   Johnson described the Bush-Ashcroft agenda as "a religion tax levied on the American people."

   "Atheists and First Amendment activists aren't the only people who should be worried about this," Johnson added. "Gays, blacks, single moms and other groups may wish to consider their position with John Ashcroft being the nation's top cop."

   Ashcroft is a close associate of televangelist Pat Robertson and self-appointed family values guru James Dobson, who heads the influential "Focus on the Family" group based in Colorado. The Missouri Senator has appeared at "Road to Victory" rallies staged by Robertson's Christian Coalition. Reporting on Ashcroft's fledgling campaign for the GOP presidential nomination, the February 18, 1998 issue of USA TODAY noted a private communique from James Dobson. It described Ashcroft's blistering attack on President Bill Clinton over the Monica Lewinsky imbroglio during a speech in front of a political action conference.

   "Later that day Ashcroft received a private note from Focus on the Family's Dobson, who hosts a radio show on 2,900 stations and mails a magazine to 2.5 million households. 'You are the messenger,' Dobson said in the faxed note to his longtime acquaintance. 'Whatever I can do, I'm yours.'"

"This is the beginning of a real nightmare for civil libertarians and state-church separationists. With Bush in the ovsal Office and Ashcroft as Attorney General, the full power of the executive branch will be behind the expansion of 'Charitable Choice,' so-called 'faith-based partnerships' and other schemes to put organized religion on the public dole." ELLEN JOHNSON, President AMERICAN ATHEISTS

   Ashcroft, 58, is a gospel-singer and son of an Assemblies of God minister who does not drink, smoke or dance. Even National Review, a political conservative publication founded by William F. Buckley, described the dour Missouri Senator: "Some politicians dominate a room; he fades into the wallpaper."

   Ashcroft graduated from Yale University with a B.A. in history in 1964, and then obtained a law degree from the University of Chicago. His public service career began in 1973 as Missouri auditor; he then moved to an assistant Attorney General position before becoming AG from 1977 to 1985. He then served as Missouri governor from 1985-1993, and two years later entered the U.S. Senate.

   During his tenure in the Senate, Ashcroft gained high marks from the Christian Coalition and other groups for his voting record on issues such as gay rights, abortion and school prayer. He was also head of the failed GOP effort in 1987 to have jurist Robert Bork appointed to the U.S. Supreme Court.

   While an assistant state attorney general, Ashcroft shared an office in Jefferson with Clarence Thomas, one of the key religious conservatives now serving on the nation's highest court.

   Ashcroft's nomination as U.S. Attorney General comes just days after President-elect Bush reached out to an interdenominational stable of religious leaders in Austin, Texas, in order to kick off his efforts to establish a Federal Office of Faith-Based Partnerships, and further enlist sectarian groups in the battle against poverty, drug abuse and other ills.

   "This is a meeting to begin a dialogue about how best to help faith-based programs change people's lives, how best government can encourage as opposed to discourage faith-based programs from performing their commonplace miracles of renewal," Bush gushed to reporters and 30 assembled religious leaders. The event was held in Austin's First Baptist Church, and was also intended as a way for Bush to build support in the black community, after winning a paltry 9 percent of their votes.

   Rev. Eugene Rivers who operates a faith-based social program in Boston called Ten Point Coalition praised the President-elect, and described the gathering as "a bridge-building meeting." The guests included representatives from Jewish and Protestant groups, as well as the Islamic Center of America and the National Conference of Catholic Bishops.

   Among those attending:

   ¶    Rev. Floyd Flake, former Democratic congressman from New York and pastor of the 10,000 member Allen AME "megachurch" in Jamaica, Queens. Flake presides over a bewildering array of nonprofit, church-operated companies with an annual operating budget of nearly $24 million and investments in commercial and residential development, a 500-student "private school," and various faith-based social programs.

   In 1997, Flake unexpectedly resigned from Congress to focus his energies on building the Allen AME church business, which he advertises as a showcase for his religious "bootstrap" philosophy. The following year, Flake was abruptly "uninvited" to an Indiana Black Legislative Caucus Prayer Breakfast due to his vocal support on behalf of school vouchers. In Congress, Flake worked closely with former Christian Coalition Director Ralph Reed in energizing the Religious Freedom Amendment, a school prayer measure that cleared the House but failed to gain sufficient support in the senate.

   Despite his enthusiasm for "Charitable Choice" and "faith-based partnership" schemes to put religious groups on the public dole, Flake ended up turning his church pulpit into a political podium in the recent campaign, and endorsed Vice President Al Gore.

   "I don't do endorsements from across the pulpit because I never know who's out there watching the types of laws that govern separation of church and state," Flake declared at a February 13, 2000 church service at AME attended by Mr. Gore. "But I will say to you this morning and you read it well: This (pointing to Gore) should be the next president of the United States." The backdoor endorsement prompted a complaint to the Internal Revenue Service by Americans United, which charged that Flake violated portions of federal law which bar churches from supporting or opposing candidates for public office.

   Flake has crossed party lines, though, and in New York openly campaigned for Mayor Rudolph Giuliani and Gov. George Pataki, both supporters of faith-based partnerships. He is also on good terms with Mr. Bush, and refers to the President-elect as "my homeboy." Salon Magazine said of Flake: "Generally a reliable Democratic vote, Flake broke party ranks when it came to abortion and gay rights... Flake has always preached the importance of self-reliance, and often cites his own example of what can be done if you work hard and trust in Jesus."

   ¶    Stephen Goldsmith, former Mayor of Indianapolis, and one of the nation's most outspoken supporters of "faith-based" partnerships. While Mayor, Goldsmith presided over an aggressive program dubbed "Front Porch Alliance" that melded public money, private contributions and the organizational expertise of community and sectarian groups. Goldsmith was considered a front-runner as possible head of the Department of Housing and Urban Development, but one attendee at the Austin gathering suggested that he might head up the Bush administration Office of Faith-Based Partnerships.

   During the campaign, Goldsmith served as a key policy advisor on social issues and "charitable choice," working closely with Marvin Olasky, another supporter of enlisting religious groups in the public service sphere.

   ¶    Rabbi Daniel Lapin is perhaps the most bizarre attendee at the Austin, Texas meeting. A frequent guest at Pat Robertson rallies and "Road to Victory" events, he heads "Toward Tradition," a group united evangelical and fundamentalist Christians with traditionalist Jews.

   During the recent election campaign, Lapin served on the National Advisory Committee of Jerry Falwell's "People of Faith 2000," which mobilized churches throughout the country in a get-out-the-vote-for-Bush effort. Others on the Falwell committee included Paige Patterson (Southern Baptist Convention), doomsday fiction writer Tim LaHaye ("Left Behind" series), Janet Parshall of the Family Research Council, and direct mail wizard Richard Viguerie.

   At one Christian Coalition soiree, Lapin defended Pat Robertson against charges that the televangelist's book "The New World Order" was based on anti-Semetic sources and themes. Rob Boston, in his book "The Most Dangerous Man in America? Pat Robertson and the Christian Coalition" observed:

"Lapin's argument was novel ... Robertson, he said, can't be an anti-Semite because once Lapin attended a weekend meeting at the Robertson-owned Founders Inn in Virginia Beach and the hotel arranged for Lapin to have a ground floor room, knowing that the Orthodox rabbi could not use electrically powered elevators on Saturday..."

   Boston notes that Lapin also delivered "a barely coherent, poorly reasoned speech against evolution, implying that the scientific principle can't be true because if it were, baboons would still be turning into people..."

   Lapin has also suggested that current cultural and political conflicts are not between "good" and "bad" people, but between those embrace religious faith and those who adhere to secularist ideology.

   At the Austin gathering with President-elect Bush, Lapin was tapped to deliver opening remarks. He praised the former Texas governor, declaring:

"Mr. President-elect, your action in bringing us here today will help to undo the epidemic of secularism that was unleashed in America eight years ago. You have reminded Americans that faith is not about how many angels can dance on the head of a pin, but is about families that empower education, that defeat crime, and that create wealth ... by placing religious values at the core of your incoming Administration, you will do a great deal to help unify the country after the most contentious election in modern times."

   Not all supporters of "Charitable Choice" and "faith-based partnerships" agree on the mechanics of how these programs should function. Bush policy advisor Marvin Olasky, a University of Texas journalism professor who shaped much of Bush's vision of "compassionate conservatism," warns that "Charitable Choice" could threaten the integrity and independence of religious groups if government money comes with regulatory controls and stipulations -- especially concerning the latitude of religious expression.

   Where critics see the faith-based effort as a substitute for government programs, others want to meld the two. Rev. Eugene Rivers of the Ten Point Coalition group told the Austin gathering, "Faith-based institutions cannot substitute for the federal government. It's got to be Medicaid and ministry, as opposed to Medicaid or ministry."

   The Rev. Herbert Lusk, pastor of Philadelphia's Greater Exodus Baptist Church, expressed praise for Bush after the meeting, and said that the President-elect "didn't have to reach out to me. He knew I was going to be there." The Philadelphia Inquirer noted that Lusk endorsed Bush during a talk at last summer's Republican National Convention and "hosted two RNC (Republican National Committee) events at his church..." Rev. Lusk promised that he would "use all my energy to convince the powers that be that programs ought to be going toward Philadelphia."

   Harold Dean Trulear of Public Private Ventures, an advocacy group on religious public policy issues, expressed his approval for the meeting and told reporters: "I think there will be an influx of federal money channeled through religious groups. We are demonstrating as a city that these kinds of (faith-based) partnerships are significant..."

   Despite the feel-good talk about compassionate conservatism and "bridge building," there are fears that politicians could be using religion and the promise of "faith-based" programs as a way of defusing criticism and essentially purchasing support.

   "There have been times in the past where relying on faith-based groups is a way for government not to do its fair share," said Carter Echols of the "Call to Renewal" group in an Austin Amnerican-Statesman interview. Even more skeptical was Larry Kressley of the Public Welfare Foundation, a Washington, DC group that makes grants to nonprofit organizations.

   "I think it's important that these services not be based on any particular religious belief," said Kressley. "It's a dangerous thing to mix church and state, because it could result in conditioning services or withholding services based on what you believe."

   "Charitable Choice" and "faith-based partnerships" would be expanded, though, under most new proposals, and greater latitude given to religious groups which accept public money. The Bush plan would allow sectarian groups to incorporate religious teachings, rituals and symbols into their social service programs.

   As for the financing, when Bush announced his proposal for a federal Office of Faith-Based Action during a campaign swing through Indianapolis, Ind. in July, 1999, he pledged to spend $8 billion in direct grants, tax deduction incentives and other revenues for this program. That would go a long way in addressing the concerns of some religious critics, especially those who have no qualms about taking government money for their churches and other ventures as long as there are few, if any "strings attached."

   The most cynical and revealing statement about the Austin meeting, however, may have come from Rev. Imogene Stewart, who hosts a Washington radio program.

   "Bush is President. I don't care how you fix it, the man is the president, we have to get past this," she said. "Bush knows these preachers, he has studied (President) Clinton ... he knows what to do to get over with black folks: Go to the church." (Washington Post, December 21, 2000 Page A06)

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