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By Kent Larsen
LDS Church Says Won't Accept Faith-Initiative Funds
SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH -- An Associated Press report yesterday evening says
that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints will not participate in
US President George W. Bush's faith initiative for fear that it will lead to
government regulation of church activities. The news confirms reports from
February that the Church was not interested in getting the funds.
"We're neutral. That's not saying we think it's wrong for every
organization, but we just don't need it," LDS Church spokesman Dale Bills
told the Associated Press. Reports indicating that the Church wouldn't
accept any government funds first surfaced February 5th when talk show host
and USA Today columnist Larry King reported comments from President
Hinckley. King said that Hinckley's comments were made January 30th when
King and his wife Shawn visited with President Hinckley as King's stepson
Danny was leaving on an LDS mission.
Garth Magnum, author of "The Mormon's War on Poverty," says the reason that
the Church isn't interested is two fold. "There's nothing the government can
provide that the church doesn't already have," claims Magnum, an emeritus
professor of economics at the University of Utah. The Church is
widely-admired for its welfare program, which generally provides for the
needs of its members. The Church itself is supported by tithes from its
members and by income from investments and for-profit businesses it owns. It
also has adopted fiscally conservative policies that keep it from needing
outside funds.
The Church's second reason, according to Magnum, is fear of government
regulation of its activities. "The church doesn't want the government
telling it how to do what the church sees as the church's job," he says.
This view confirms what King reported Hinckley saying in January, "Once the
government is involved, regulations follow."
Source:
Mormons Reject Bush Charity Plan
Milwaukee WI Journal-Sentinel (AP) 25Apr01 T1
By Christy Karras: Associated Press
See also:
Don't Give Money to LDS Church, Many Say in Poll
Larry King: Hinckley Opposes Bush Faith Initiative
LDS Church: No Comment on Bush 'Charitable Choice' Plan
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