The Appignani Humanist Legal Center (AHLC), the legal arm of the American Humanist Association (AHA), sent an information letter today to Morning Star Ranch, an evangelical training camp, advising the religious organization not to accept tax funds from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development for the purpose of "renovating facilities."
"Morning Star Ranch is ineligible for government money," declared Bob Ritter, legal coordinator of the AHLC. "Therefore, if the organization accepts and spends such funds, the organization could later be required to return them."
Ritter explained the legal issue. "Since Morning Star Ranch is a pervasively sectarian organization, any award of tax dollars would be a violation of the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment and HUD's own regulations. The government can't use tax dollars to endorse or aid religion; that is a breach of our cherished tradition of church-state separation. And religion is clearly integral to every aspect of Morning Star Ranch's programs. This is why the organization is barred from receiving government funding."
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