{"id":1534338,"date":"2022-07-01T07:49:48","date_gmt":"2022-07-01T11:49:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1534338"},"modified":"2022-07-01T07:49:54","modified_gmt":"2022-07-01T11:49:54","slug":"representatives-demand-answers-from-state-department-for-funding-atheism-abroad","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/representatives-demand-answers-from-state-department-for-funding-atheism-abroad\/","title":{"rendered":"Representatives Demand Answers From State Department For Funding Atheism Abroad"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">20<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Frepresentatives-demand-answers-from-state-department-for-funding-atheism-abroad%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1534338&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/51133433333_b5e588b0d7_o.jpg\" class=\"ff-og-image-inserted\" alt=\"image\" \/><\/div>\n<p>U.S. Rep. Jim Banks, R-Ind., and other members of Congress are demanding answers about a State Department plan to fund projects supporting atheism abroad.<\/p>\n<p>The State Department\u2019s Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor <a href=\"https:\/\/www.state.gov\/statements-of-interest-requests-for-proposals-and-notices-of-funding-opportunity\/drl-fy20-irf-promoting-and-defending-religious-freedom-inclusive-of-atheist-humanist-non-practicing-and-non-affiliated-individuals\/\">announced<\/a> a funding opportunity last April for projects to \u201ccombat discrimination, harassment and abuses against atheist, humanist, non-practicing and non-affiliated individuals of all religious communities by strengthening networks among these communities and providing organizational training and resources.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>Fifteen representatives wrote a <a href=\"https:\/\/banks.house.gov\/uploadedfiles\/6.30.2022_state_atheism_final.pdf\">letter<\/a> to the White House and the State Department yesterday expressing \u201cgrave concern that the State Department is using appropriated funds to support atheism and radical, progressive orthodoxy across the world.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt is one thing for the Department to be tolerant and respectful of a wide range of belief systems, and to encourage governments to respect the religious freedom interests of their citizens,\u201d the representatives\u2019 letter said. \u201cIt is quite another for the United States government to work actively to empower atheists, humanists, non-practicing, and non-affiliated in public decision-making.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>The letter continued: \u201cAny such program \u2013 for any religiously-identifiable group \u2013 in the United States would be unconstitutional.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>The letter also questions \u201chow such a grant or cooperative agreement program advances the foreign policy interests of the United States\u201d and suggests a different motive.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAmericans rightly discern this as a part of the broader effort on the part of your administration to promote radical, progressive orthodoxy abroad,\u201d the letter said. \u201cAtheism is an integral part of the belief system of Marxism and communism.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>The letter gave other examples of such efforts, including the U.S. Embassy in Germany flying a Black Lives Matter flag and the State Department\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/dailycaller.com\/2022\/06\/08\/exclusive-state-department-prepares-to-announce-worldwide-racial-equity-chief-leaked-email-shows\/\">creation of a special representative for racial equity and justice<\/a>. The letter says this individual\u2019s mission will be to \u201cspread Critical Race Theory and other progressive dogmas worldwide.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The letter requests answers to twelve questions about the State Department\u2019s \u201creligious freedom\u201d project, mostly dealing with the details project, how it serves U.S. interests, and whether it is fair to other belief systems. <\/p>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\" \/>\n<p>\n  Olivia Hajicek is an intern at The Federalist and a junior at Hillsdale College studying history and journalism. She has covered campus and city news as a reporter for The Hillsdale Collegian. You can reach her at olivia.hajicek@gmail.com.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>U.S. Rep. Jim Banks, R-Ind., and other members of Congress are demanding answers about a State Department plan to fund projects supporting atheism abroad. The State Department\u2019s Bureau of Democracy,<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":836,"featured_media":2315279,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1534338","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1534338","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/836"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1534338"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1534338\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2315279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1534338"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1534338"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1534338"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}