Recently, I participated in a comment thread on Feministe that included discussion of whether or not church food pantries are allowed to proselytize with their distributions. Today I saw this on the news, about a food pantry that has lost its federal food contributions because of its policy of asking clients if they want to pray.
I don't have much to say about this. I think it's good that we have these sorts of safeguards to prevent getting food from being tied to doing something religious. Sure, in a perfect world, you'd be able to ask someone if they wanted to pray without putting them in a bad situation, but here the power dynamics are so skewed that that can't possibly be the case.
My opinion is that the church should "proselytize" by doing good deeds without comment-- that is, if you're going to give someone food, don't give them food and make them attend a church service. Just give them the food. That will show them the love of Christ more than any strings could possibly do. Also, if your "gift" is dependent on them doing something you want them to do, it's not really a gift, is it?
I hope this food pantry finds some way to serve its clients and still receive federal support. The article mentions ways some other pantries have dealt with the situation, like having brochures and prayer rooms. I also hope this doesn't become another example of evil horrible liberals trampling all over religious freedom.
2 comments:
I'd like to know more details. I'll bet there was more than some well-meaning person asking people to pray.
spectral_ev,
Could be. There wasn't much more news coverage than what I linked to, but if you Google, you might find something.
However, even if that was all there was too it, I think that was enough. Given the power differential, it still has the potential to be a form of coercion.
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