The Bush administration regularly holds free programs to help faith-based groups apply for grants. It's a good opportunity to see the massive program from the inside-out. The next one from the Department of Health and Human Services is Tuesday February 7 in Harrisburg, PA.  

Others are in varied locations in the spring.  

Find more information and register here.

FBCI is hosting a series of Regional Conferences and Targeted Workshops on President Bush's Initiative in cities across the country. The conferences are free but pre-registration is required. The next White House event will take place on Tuesday, February 7, 2006, in Harrisburg, PA. Representatives from faith-based and community organizations that have a track record of applying for government grants, particularly those who have not yet won grants, should attend.

by cyncooper on Sat Feb 04, 2006 at 03:49:23 AM EST

President George W. Bush introduced 21 families who have either adopted or given up for adoption frozen embryos that remained after fertility treatments at his White House press conference on May 24, 2005. But first, he thanked Mike Leavitt, Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, for his role in advancing the cause of snowflake babies. "He's doing a fine job," said Bush. (This head-pat from the prez presaged Bush's praise for FEMA Director Michael D. "Brownie" Brown. "Brownie," said Bush on on September 6, 2005, "you are doin' a heck of a job" at setting priorities and spending the taxpayers' dollars.)

Next, Bush introduced the leaders of Nightlight Christian Adoptions and thanked them for their work with frozen embryo adoptions.

"I want to thank Nightlight Christian Adoptions for their good work. Nightlight's embryo adoption program has now matched over 200 biological parents with about 140 adoptive families, resulting in the birth of 81 children so far, with more on the way. (Applause.)

"The children here today remind us that there is no such thing as a spare embryo. Every embryo is unique and genetically complete, like every other human being. And each of us started out our life this way."

Speak for yourself, Mr. President. I personally did not start out life as a cluster of seven cells in a cryogenic freezer. Back when I was born, they did not yet have cryogenic freezers. My parents actually took turns hand cranking me in a White Mountain ice cream maker for nine months. A lot of crushed ice and rock salt later, they had a spanking new baby boy -- and Mom had built up biceps like a blacksmith. But hey, every embryo has its own story.

by jhutson on Sat Feb 04, 2006 at 10:33:48 AM EST

The push for dominionist medical associations and the like is actually a fairly old one (well, 80's-ish old) and started with the dominionist wing of the anti-abortion movement.  (I myself can speak from some authority here--I'm a walkaway from a dominionist group where the state headquarters of Kentucky Doctors for Life is based--and in fact run by the same person who runs the state branch of the American Family Association.)

One of the reasons dominionist groups in general have been pushing for dominionist accreditation groups and associations is the "pro-life" movement and its dominionist links, but another--less well known--reason is that several major medical associations (especially psychiatric and social work associations) have come out against practices promoted as medical therapy in the dominionist community.

Particularly of note, multiple mainstream medical associations have come out against the practice of "reparative" or "Transformation Therapy"--or, put much more bluntly, "de-gaying therapy".  A group representing almost every mainstream psychatric and social work group in the United States issued a formal statement against "de-gaying therapy", the American Psychological Association in particular has issued formal policy statements against "de-gaying therapy" and considers the promotion of "reparative therapy" by its members grounds for formal disbarment for ethics violations, and even the American Academy of Pediatrics has formally condemned "reparative therapy" as highly harmful.  (In fact, this is specifically one of the issues that Love in Action is in hot water with the state of Tennessee over.)

Again, many of these groups now consider the promotion of this an ethics violation, meaning they will disbar and revoke accreditation over this--in many case, meaning a loss of license, as many states use the "mainstream" medical and psychological associations' ethics guidelines for their state ethics rules for medical licensure.

In the case of the American Academy of Pediatrics, this plus a position statement condemning abstinence-only pregnancy prevention programs as fundamentally flawed has led to dominionist groups pushing a dominionist "shadow economy" alternative, the "American College of Pediatricians".

Another factor has been education on evolution in regards to the role played in infectious diseases gaining resistance as well as cancer cells (yes, some dominionists even oppose this--then again, some actually claim that infectious diseases are caused by solidified demonic ectoplasm (I wish I was making this up)).

A further factor--again, largely in regards to social work and psychological associations--is the increasing awareness that many of the tactics promoted in the dominionist community, and especially those groups with a heavy emphasis on "spiritual warfare" or "deliverance ministry", as being  abusive and psychologically harmful in and of themselves.  (This is, quite literally, a revolution that has occured only in the past five to ten years; almost all extant literature on spiritual abuse within "Bible-based groups" dates from at earliest 1995 or so, with very very few exceptions (notably Maranatha and Youth With A Mission, both groups tightly connected with neopentecostal dominionist groups).  There is now general acceptance that spiritual abuse can occur even in large church denominations and movements, whereas this was not generally considered even ten years ago and thought to be isolated or tactics within particular churches.)  As dominionism is itself increasingly recognised as "harmful to children and other living things" by the mainstream medical associations, dominionists are going to dominionist-run "shadow economy" groups--where walkaways or LGBT individuals will be far less likely to receive assistance with possible child abuse issues in the home, blatant coercion, referral to experts in spiritual abuse, etc. and more likely to be treated by or referred to someone who tries "reparative therapy", "theophostic Christian counseling", or even exorcisms.  It makes it far less likely that women who may need services like birth control, antiherpetic medication, reproductive health services, etc. will receive these services appropriately (even if they may need birth control for, say, prevention of complications of polycystic ovary disease)--and it can make it literally impossible for entire categories of people to receive appropriate medical treatment at all (or even be able to escape from religiously-motivated abuse).

I would recommend, in these cases (yes, there is the "action" to go along with the "talk"!):

a) Again, research through dominionist groups themselves is always helpful.  Quite a few of these groups list themselves in directories so that dominionists can find them--even those who don't might be found through a search of "Christian Yellow Pages" type directories used by the dominionist community.

Needless to say, those doctors should NOT be patronised, and people recommended to avoid them.  (And if those doctors are the only ones in your area or the only ones your insurance company will pay for, public awareness needs to be made about this.)

b) One good area of research--proved a valid line of research by groups like the Queer Action Committee against the Refuge "de-gaying" center run by Love in Action--is to actively research laws in your state regarding medical licensure, specifically on what is defined as "practicing medicine without a license" in your state and what your state's ethics guidelines are for various practices.

If your state does as the state of Tennessee does (and many other states) and takes the ethics guidelines of the "mainstream" accreditation bodies for medical specialties as their own ethics guidelines, dominionist doctors can actually be threatened with the loss of their license.  Serious work should be done in both filing ethics violation complaints against dominionist medical personnel who either refuse to render treatment or who push  harmful therapies (like "recovered memory therapy"--associated with "Satanic Panic" and now considered an ethics violation by the APA--or "reparative therapy") and also to make sure that dominionist accreditation bodies are not given equal status.  (One of the things dominionists are trying to do is to push things like having NARTH or the American College of Pediatrics listed as an official accreditation body for medical licensure.)

One area which may be helpful in this is showing how many dominionist "alternative" accreditation groups are in essence "accreditation mills".  For example, NARTH will literally accept anyone who pays a membership fee, claims to be one of a large group of "counseling" groups (which include not only licensed therapists but clergy) and signing of their statement of faith; the American College of Pediatricians accepts any pediatrician who agrees with a dominionist statement of faith.  Neither has the rigorous ethics requirements nor requirements for training, periodic recertification and continuing medical education, etc. that mainstream certification boards have.)

In a related vein, research should be done on requirements for medical practice in your state; in many states, dominionist "reparative therapy" groups or "Christian counseling" groups can be shut down for practice of medicine without a license.  (This is specifically what may get Love in Action get shut down; the only professional on staff who had any accreditation whatsoever had his medical license removed for ethics violations, and they have been dispensing medical therapy and psychotropic medications without being a licensed medical facility.)

If your state is particularly lax (Missouri and Florida being examples) push for increased oversight of licensing.  (One example of this being proposed on the federal level is HR 1738 which would heavily restrict the activities of coercive "boot camps"--many of which (like Love in Action) are run by dominionist groups.  Montana is one of several states working on similar legislation.

One important thing to focus on--exemptions should not be allowed for "Faith Based" groups (because, all too often, these lead to "Faith Based Coercion"--as documented many times on Talk2Action itself, and thoroughly documented by groups like International Survivor's Action Committee (which has successfully gotten some of the worst groups running "Bible boot camps" either shut down or investigated).

by dogemperor on Sat Feb 04, 2006 at 11:37:22 PM EST

Lest people doubt that many of the more abusive "behaviour modification facilities" are "faith based coercion" groups run by dominionists, there is a wonderful article titled "Why Jesus Is Not A Regulator" that explains this:

One of the primary goals of President George W. Bush's new White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives is "to eliminate unnecessary legislative, regulatory, and other bureaucratic barriers that impede effective faith-based and other community efforts to solve social problems." Bush has said that America needs more "faith-based treatment" for addiction and juvenile delinquency and that he would like to "promote alternative licensing regimes to recognize religious training as an alternative form of qualification."

Bad idea. Even leaving aside the dubious constitutionality of government financial support for religious services, deregulation is a recipe for disaster. Recent experience shows why.

Over the last 10 years, more than two dozen teenagers have died in so-called "tough love" rehabilitation facilities that use violent confrontation and exposure to primitive living conditions as a means to a cure. At least three girls in different facilities died from dehydration or hyperthermia following forced exercise; a 16-year-old California boy died of an infection after staff laughed at him and forced him to carry a basket filled with his vomit- and excrement-covered clothes; a 12-year-old Florida boy died in 2000 when a 320-pound counselor physically restrained him (the counselor said he thought the boy's complaints that he was unable to breathe were "fake"). Not all victims of such "treatment" die, of course: Many just end up with posttraumatic stress disorder or in a coma, or are discovered tied up in closets. Some of the programs where these incidents occurred were explicitly faith-based; some were not. None, however, were properly regulated.

Yet despite these cautionary examples--and despite the testimony of numerous experts who say that what is needed to prevent them from recurring is more federal oversight, not less--Bush's enthusiasm for these programs has not waned. In 1997, after Texas regulators had tried to shut down a Christian rehabilitation program called Teen Challenge because its staff failed to meet educational requirements, then-Governor Bush responded by scuttling all the state's training and safety regulations for such facilities. And in a speech two years later, Bush praised the fact that at Teen Challenge, "if you don't work, you don't eat." Now that he's ensconced in the White House, Bush intends to deregulate Teen Challenge-type programs nationwide.

In fact, it turns out that dominionist "Faith Based Coercion" promoters were major bankrollers for the Republican Party, including a person associated with a group widely recognised as the most abusive "behaviour modification" program in history (and one associated with Love In Action, at that):

Mel Sembler, who made his fortune as a shopping mall magnate, is a longtime Bush-family supporter and friend. He was also the Republican Party's campaign finance from 1997 to 2001. Sembler's the man who devised the term "Republican Regents" for contributors of more than $250,000 to the GOP during W.'s 2000 campaign.

He is also the founder of Straight, Inc. Started in 1976, Straight, Inc., was based on the "therapeutic community" approach pioneered several years earlier, which involved addicts forcing harsh discipline and a surrender to God on one another. (The first "therapeutic community" program, called Synanon, went on to become a violent cult, some of whose members placed snakes in their detractors' mailboxes.)

Whether Sembler has used his fundraising prowess as leverage to pressure President Bush into funding faith-based programs is impossible to determine. But he's clearly got the Bush family's ear--and claims to have been responsible for former first lady Nancy Reagan's interest in the drug fight. In any case, the story of Straight, Inc., is a cautionary tale for anyone who believes that deregulating youth services facilities is a good idea.

Accounts by former patients depict a grim routine at Straight. "Newcomers" were required to be trailed at all times by a series of "oldcomers," who literally were to keep a finger through the newcomer's belt loop at all times--even when the newcomer went to the bathroom. "Therapy" consisted of mainly sitting straight for 10 hours a day, confessing sins. A teen who wasn't sufficiently enthusiastic in his or her confession would be thrown to the floor and immobilized, often for hours.

Immobilization was also the punishment for other infractions--such as eye contact between a boy and a girl, or slouching. Television, music, and reading were frequently forbidden. So was unsupervised contact with parents or other outsiders. The program had a, shall we say, fundamentalist view of sexuality. Girls were made to confess sexual transgressions in detail, while boys yelled "Slut!" and "Whore!" at them. Boys were sometimes forced to dress in drag as punishment for transgressions.

Yet Straight grew rapidly as the war on drugs escalated. Nancy Reagan visited the organization twice and called it her "favorite." At its peak, it operated nine centers in seven states. On average, teens stayed a year at a cost of $14,000. Since "counselors" were former patients whose only training had been treatment, costs were low and profits high.

The lawsuits began almost immediately. In 1981 the American Civil Liberties Union sued the Atlanta-based branch of Straight, Inc., but dropped litigation in return for an independent investigation. (Sembler told a Florida business publication that the ACLU's opposition "just shows that we have been doing things right.") In 1983 a former patient won $220,000 from a jury for unlawful imprisonment that involved regular beatings at the Straight, Inc., facility in St. Petersburg, Florida. Another Florida patient won a $721,000 jury award in 1990. Dozens--if not hundreds--of other suits were settled out of court.

State regulatory agencies, fueled by media accounts, were concerned about Straight from the start. In 1983 60 Minutes focused on reports of abuse at the St. Petersburg program. In 1991 the Springfield, Virginia, facility visited by Mrs. Reagan was shut down by state authorities--and was immediately reopened in Columbia, Maryland, until state regulators there cracked down the following year.

Soon thereafter, the Florida, Maryland, Massachusetts, and Texas facilities were all shuttered, either by government regulators or as the result of criminal investigations. By 1993 Straight, Inc., itself was dead--all the regulation, investigation, and bad publicity had finally led to terminal attrition. But Straight's ethos lives on: In 1999 a patient won $4.5 million in a suit against a similar program--shut down by New Jersey regulators in 1998--that was run by Miller Newton, Straight's former national clinical director.

Meanwhile, after Straight, Inc., closed its last facility in Florida in 1993, an internal state audit concluded that officials had renewed its license despite knowledge of its abuses for years. Why? Political reasons, according to the audit. A St. Petersburg Times editorial entitled "A Persistent Foul Odor" noted the connections between Mel Sembler and George Bush the elder.

by dogemperor on Sat Feb 04, 2006 at 11:44:18 PM EST

As someone who has been active in emryonic stem cell advocacy sine president Bush 2000 "election," I want to thank you for shedding light on this silliness.

As a Catholic I try to think about my faith and i conclude that many of these folks, while well-intentioned, miss the point.

Didn't Jesus come into the world to heal the sick and disabled?

The Jesus I believe in is a Jew and He lived his life on Earth according to Torah.

Jesus never repudiated the Jewish halahik concept of healing lives in danger of death, known as pecuach nefish. Nor is there any place in the Gospels where Jesus refuted the Jewish concept that the embryo has the same status as water for the first forty days.

Today's Jews, in studying the same Torah Jesus lived by, concluded it would be a sin not to do this research.

I know in my heart, Jesus has no problem with this research.

A non-implanted embryo is no more a person than an acorn is an oak tree or seed a blade of grass.

As I sit in my wheelchair, my body disintengrating from muscular dystrophy, I often wonder, what drives such people? Isn't this activist government being used to impose a minority opinion as law?
Don't they understand that the mission of Jesus was built upon tikkun olam?

This is an important issue that must continually be addressed. Thank you Cyn for addressing this issue that may affect whether I will be cured or die within the next ten years.


by Frank Cocozzelli on Sun Feb 05, 2006 at 10:10:05 AM EST