The CARES Act, passed by Congress to provide economic stability during the coronavirus pandemic, created a stream of funding for businesses and nonprofits called the Paycheck Protection Program. Unfortunately, however, they did not include important protections for the separation of religion and government.
Now, the Small Business Administration (SBA), which oversees the program, has said that churches are allowed to receive this funding and use it to pay for inherently religious activity, such as clergy salary.
This is our opportunity to tell SBA that they are wrong — American taxpayers must not be forced to subsidize religion!
Every dollar that the government provides to a church is one less that is available to businesses or individuals in need. Even worse, SBA has given churches special exemptions to make them eligible even if they are part of a large, wealthy denomination.
Churches and other places of worship are already exempt from the registration and tax filing requirements that apply to other nonprofits. The government should not be giving them money for unconstitutional purposes, particularly when there is no accountability or oversight.
