Republican members of Congress have launched a challenge to Joe Biden’s decision to use taxpayers’ money to promote the religion of atheism.
Fifteen GOP members wrote Biden, and Secretary of State Antony Blinken, recently about a State Department program implemented last year that “would award grants of up to $500,000 to organizations committed to the practice and spread of atheism and humanism, namely in South/Central Asia and in the Middle East/North Africa.”
Just the News reports the letter, signed by Reps. Jim Banks, Jeff Duncan, Randy Weber, Glenn Grothman, Claudia Tenney, Dan Crenshaw and more, pointed out, “To be clear, atheism and ‘humanism’ are official belief systems. As an initial matter, therefore, we would like to know what other United States government programs supported with appropriated funds are being used either to encourage, inculcate, or to disparage any official belief system – atheist, humanist, Christian, Muslim, or otherwise.”
They wrote, “It is one thing for the department to be tolerant and respectful of a wide range of belief systems, and to encourage governments to respect the religious freedom interests of their citizens. It is quite another for the United States government to work actively to empower atheists, humanists…”
Any such program, the members of Congress pointed out to Biden, is unconstitutional.
“This is not ‘religious freedom,'” they said. It simply “prioritizes atheists and humanists above all other potential recipients. Not only does such a priority violate both the Establishment and Free Exercise Clauses, but also the No Religious Test Clause of Article VI of our nation’s constitution.”
The letter said, “Americans rightly discern this as a part of the broader effort on the part of your administration to promote radical, progressive orthodoxy abroad. Atheism is an integral part of the belief system of Marxism and communism. A few weeks ago, the United States Embassy in Germany erected a ‘Black Lives Matter’ flag. Americans should be very alarmed at this. It’s not only that ‘Black Lives Matter’ remains a highly divisive and increasingly unpopular movement here in the United States; the display is also denoting a promotion of a specific radical organization. Other recent initiatives of the State Department include creating a ‘Special Representative for Racial Equity and Justice,’ whose mission will be to spread Critical Race Theory and other progressive dogmas worldwide, and working to remove restrictions on abortion around the globe.”
The letter includes a list of questions for Biden to answer, including, “Why should it be part of the State Department’s mission to promote radical work organizations abroad?” and “How does promoting atheism in Muslim countries promote U.S. values and interests.”
One of the lawmakers, Grothman, told the John Solomon Reports podcast that the rest of the world looks up to the United States for various reasons, such as its freedoms and material wealth, and wonders what the secret is to America’s success.
“And the Biden administration is going to make it clear that they believe one of the reasons for our success is our acceptance of atheism and humanism,” he said in the interview. “That’s what they’re going to do. That’s what they’re going to do with your tax dollars, you religious Americans — the Biden administration is going to take your tax dollars and promote atheism and humanism around the world.”
For 25 years, WND has boldly brought you the news that really matters. If you appreciate our Christian journalists and their uniquely truthful reporting and analysis, please help us by becoming a WND Insider!
Content created by the WND News Center is available for re-publication without charge to any eligible news publisher that can provide a large audience. For licensing opportunities of our original content, please contact [email protected].
SUPPORT TRUTHFUL JOURNALISM. MAKE A DONATION TO THE NONPROFIT WND NEWS CENTER. THANK YOU!
This article was originally published by the WND News Center.
