Don't take their money! Money from the government always, always comes with strings attached.
Here's the article about the city of Portland, ME and Catholic Charities. Both sides are declaring victory, of course. I love how that happens.
Catholic Charities, city claim victory
Chris over at Maine Catholic and Beyond probably understands this case better than I do. But it seems to me that this is really just a temporary win, and that Catholic Charitites will be forced into more compromises as time goes on.
At some point, short of funding entities like Catholic Charities and the Salvation Army without taking any money from the state or federal governments, the time will come when they have to decide just how many of their principles they can compromise on.
You've hit the nail on the head. There is no free lunch. Any money just "given" is almost guaranteed to have strings attached. That's how the feds, corporations and special interest groups keep their meathooks in schools and local governments. By offering grants and whatnot, they get a say in how they do things. It's a shame that Catholic Charities cannot sustain its work without government assistance, but it simply cannot.
I've read that on average, Catholics are among the lowest financial contributors to their local churches and to charities connected to their religion of any American Christian denomination. If only we could do something to change that.
As the treasurer of my parish, I agree with you whole-heartedly! I don't know what the deal is. And don't get smockmomma started on her rant--I need her to save it for our upcoming stewardship drive at church. :-)