American Atheists President Ellen Johnson charges that new rules permitting the use of tax money to restore "historic" churches is "the boldest step yet" in imposing a religion assessment on our nation.

n a sweeping policy change, Secretary of the Interior Gale Norton has announced that religious groups may obtain federal funding in order to repair "historic" churches and other properties.

   The first recipient is the Old North Church in Boston, Mass which is receiving a $317,000 government grant to repair and restore windows, and make the building more accessible to the public. The church is famous as the site where lanterns were hung to signal Paul Revere that the British were coming. Regular services are still conducted every Sunday in the 280-year-old structure.

   Such government aid was, until recently, unthinkable, especially for churches that housed active congregations. In recent years, some religious entities and "preservation" groups have supported the idea. Lawmakers, from President Bush to Sen. Joseph Lieberman have also called for the use of federal grants to repair and maintain houses of worship.

   The idea faces constitutional barriers, however.

   In COMMITTEE FOR PUBLIC EDUCATION (PEARL) v. NYQUIST (1973), the U.S. Supreme Court examined several N.Y. state laws providing financial aid to nonpublic elementary and secondary schools. Part of the money was for "maintenance and repair" of facilities, and equipment to promote the "health, welfare and safety" of students. Justices noted that whatever the goal and "propriety" of the legislature's purpose in establishing such public assistance, the programs "may not immunize from further scrutiny a law which either has the effect that advances religion, or which fosters excessive entanglements between Church and State."

   Courts have ruled that different forms of public aid to religious schools may be permissible, so long as they presumably have a "secular purpose" and do not promote worship and proselytizing. Even in upholding such assistance, though, former Supreme Court Justice Hugo Black warned in one case:

"No tax in any amount, large or small, can be levied to support any religious activities or institutions, whatever they may be called, and whatever form they may adopt to teach or practice religion..."

   Black added that after surveying the history of government involvement in, and support of religion in the pre-Revolutionary period of American history, "These practices became so commonplace as to shock the freedom loving colonials into a feeling of abhorrence. The imposition of taxes to pay ministers' salaries and to build and maintain churches and church property aroused their indignation. It was these feelings which found expression in the First Amendment."

   Cases such as NYQUIST have quoted extensively from James Madison's 1785 essay, "Memorial and Remonstrance against Religious Assessments," which he penned in opposition to a bill levying taxes for the public support of religious institutions. That document is, as cited in NYQUIST, "one of the cornerstones of the First Amendment's guarantee of government neutrality toward religion." Another underpinning declaration was Thomas Jefferson's "Bill for Establishing Religious Freedom" which stated that "no man shall be compelled to frequent or support any religious worship, place, or ministry whatsoever."

   Numerous state constitutions also prohibit the use of public money for construction, repair or upkeep of religious institutions ranging from sectarian colleges to houses of worship. These "Blaine Amendments" are now under attack by religious groups that see them as a considerable legal obstacle to voucher schemes, public funding of faith-based social programs and other aid-to-religion schemes.

   Spending public money for the repair and maintenance of houses of worship has been a key, but often overlooked element in President Bush's federal faith-based initiative. As with diverting tax money to religious charities, federal grants to churches are now being touted as an example of "fairness" and a way of fostering an egalitarian environment for both secular and religious institutions. Announcing the dramatic policy shift and the grant to the Old North Church, Secretary of the Interior Gail Norton declared: "This new policy will bring balance to our historic preservation program and end a discriminatory double-standard that has been applied against religious properties."

   Using public money to "repair" older houses of worship was a an early part of Mr. Bush's federal faith-based initiative.

   Just four months after Bush created his White House Office for Faith-Based and Community Initiatives, newly-appointed director John DiIulio defended such grants during an April, 2001 address to obscure but increasingly influential group called "Partners for Sacred Places." DiIulio excoriated Americans for being "behind the curve in thinking of our older religious properties as civic assets," adding:

"When those buildings crumble, when the deferred maintenance catches up, the preschool and the prison ministry and the day-care center and the after-school latchkey learning program ... crumble and go away, too. They just don't move to the Ramada Inn."

   While the Old North Church project involves a hefty $317,000 -- just for the repair of glass windows -- the tab to the taxpayer will be substantially larger if Uncle Sam begins handing out "grants" to impoverished "historic" churches. Diane Cohen of the Partners group told the Philadelphia Inquirer newspaper that there are 800 congregations in that city alone struggling to maintain facilities in excess of sixty years old, and that 200 were in "dire" condition.

   Among those attending the PSP meeting were conservative culture-guru William Bennett; Rev. Eugene F. Winters III, pastor of a Boston congregation and key figure in promoting the faith-based initiative; and Sen. Joseph Lieberman.

   Lieberman took a more visible stand on the issue in December, 2001 when he told a church audience in New Haven, Conn. that government should take responsibility for the repair of "historic" houses of worship as part of a wider effort to preserve "sacred places."

   "We can't tell American history ... without talking about the history of our sacred places," Lieberman said. "We can't have a strong future for our community without safeguarding the buildings (that are used for worship)."

   "This is the most blatant attempt to use public money to promote and prop-up organized religion," said Ellen Johnson, President of American Atheists. "It ignores the Constitution, and the very essence of state-church separation to propose that Americans submit to a 'Religion tax' in order to preserve churches."

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