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 A new report finds that religious groups engaged in lobbying or advocacy around Washington employ at least 1,000 people.
November 22nd, 2011
12:29 PM ET
Report tracks explosion of religious lobbying in WashingtonBy Dan Gilgoff, CNN.com Religion Editor (CNN) - Lobbying and advocacy by religious groups in Washington have exploded in recent decades, increasing fivefold since 1970 to become a nearly $400 million industry, a new Pew report finds. More than 200 groups are doing faith-related lobbying and advocacy in the nation’s capital, compared to fewer than 40 in 1970, according to the report. Put together, the groups employ at least 1,000 people. The report, released Monday by the Pew Research Center’s Forum on Religion and Public Life, found that religious groups spend $390 million a year to influence U.S. domestic and foreign policy. “About one-in-five religious advocacy organizations in Washington have a Roman Catholic perspective (19%) and a similar proportion is evangelical Protestant in outlook (18%), while 12% are Jewish and 8% are mainline Protestant,” according to the report, called "Lobbying for the Faithful: Religious Advocacy Groups in Washington, D.C." “But many smaller U.S. religious groups, including Baha’is, Buddhists, Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs, also have established advocacy organizations in the Washington area,” the report said. The number of Muslim groups engaged in lobbying and advocacy in Washington (17) is about the same as the number of mainline Protestant groups engaged in such work (16). The report said that the most common domestic issues for religious groups are: - The relationship between church and state; - Civil rights and liberties for religious and other minorities; - Bioethics and life issues, including abortion, capital punishment and end-of-life issues; - Family/marriage issues, including definition of marriage, domestic violence and fatherhood initiatives. The top international issues for religious groups are religious freedom, human rights, debt relief and other economic issues, and the promotion of peace and democracy, the report found. |
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The CNN Belief Blog covers the faith angles of the day's biggest stories, from breaking news to politics to entertainment, fostering a global conversation about the role of religion and belief in readers' lives. It's edited by CNN's Daniel Burke with contributions from Eric Marrapodi and CNN's worldwide news gathering team.  |
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Religion needs to stay the heck out of government. Anyone who disagrees should go read the story about the Afghan woman who can either die in jail or marry her rapist. Do you want that for this country? If not, keep the religious lobbyists under control!
It's time to tax the Cults........big and small.......it's pathetic......
Taxing the 'cults' as you say will end up being a net deficit to the treasury. The benefits provided by their welfare work cannot be matched by Gov't spening, not without a large increase in that spending. You may end up having a larger deficit by taxing the churches after all is said and done. Be careful what you wish for.
Epic, IF religion wants to PLAY then RELIGION CAN PAY, Just like the REST OF AMERICANS
Epicjourney, if churches have to start paying taxes, will they stop doing charity work? I give money and time to charities, and I pay taxes.
I guess epicjourney isn't a conservative since he states that he's pro welfare.
And herein lies the source of all the problems.
Churches and religious organizations should be barred from lobbying. Period.
We have separation of church and state. A brilliant foresight by our Founding Fathers. And we need to enforce it continuously.
.
Hm, maybe you should be barred from lobbying. No more emails or snail mail to your congressman for you!!
Epic, IF religion wants to PLAY then RELIGION CAN PAY, Just like the REST OF AMERICANS
Great, our own Taliban!
Agreed.
All this lobbying by churches is why the GOP has morphed into the American Taliban.
That Christian terrorist who tried to assassinate the President would be greeted as a hero at the Republican National Convention and Taliban headquarters.
I didn't know this.
Religion is dangerous, especially as adhered to by fanatics and evangelicals. Worship whatever mythical god you wish; just keep it in your church or temple or whatever; keep it out of politics; and please keep it out of my face!
^ liked
Gross
Religion has no place in this society period. I want religion to be abolished and for people to actually study and explore our world and universe instead of leave it up to some made up gods. There are no gods! jesus is a lie!
ok, keep telling yourself that maybe you will eventually believe it.
There, AGREED
You may be right, there may be no gods, but more than 90% of the world's population believe in one form of god or another. They all have a right to believe what they want, they just don't have the right to impose laws that are based on those beliefs. Religious groups lobbying congress do not have the right to be tax-exempt, since they are participating in the political process.
In 1970's $$, it's gone down about 200%. In terms of who is listening, that's gone down 5,000%. http://www.endtimesurvivalguide.com
Fine religion, you want to play politics, PAY THE TAXES OR GET THE **** OUT OF WASHINGTON.
Maybe your attention is better spent railing against the Corporate and union influences in Gov't, that is where the real corruption exists that actually causes policies that are harmful to the 99%
EPIC, Maybe YOU and YOUR RELIGION SHOULD GET THE **** OUT OF WASHINGTON OR BE TAXED.
Ya. Let those priests have their little boys.
LMFAO THIS IS FUNNY LADY LIVE WITH LIVING COLOR
GodofLunaticsCreation
DONT LET THAT GUY NEAR YOUR CHILDERN
Earl what made you think I was a man of the cloth?
Imagine if these people spent their money helping other people, instead of lobbying to stick their nose where it does not belong . . .
Do you have any idea how much welfare work religious organizations do? It is well worth the tax revenue to have them do it (which they can do at a fraction of the cost it takes Gov't to provide those same services) than Gov't. The unintended consequences of removing tax exempt may mean they have less money to perform their primary role – serving the communities, which means Gov't will need to step in which will require even more tax revenue to pay for.
Epic, if religion want to play politics they RELIGION CAN PAY THE TAXES.
Look up the history of Mother Theresa. She was a sadomasochist who took money from the poor and gave it to the church. She enjoyed watching people suffer and wanted to be around it since she felt it brought her closer to God.
Jeepers, what a cynical interpretation. You come up with that yourself??
@epicjourney - I have serious doubts as to whether they can do it more cheaply than government. Even if they can, they rarely do it without discriminating in hiring practices. Lastly, they are free to deny services to whomever they like, such as atheists who refuse to pray with them. Such denial of services is something the government would never be permitted to do.
Get on your knees or no food for you.
Politicians – one step above criminals or one step below. They'll take anyones money and make up like they care. I'm still hoping some one Nukes the capitol when the MRs and kids are out of town!!!
There should be NONE. No wonder this country keeps getting worse. Actually, there should be no lobbying at all.
Now you know what your donations go for. Remember that the next time they pass the plate.
Religion: Get out of politics or be taxed!
12 percent of the religious advocacy organizations are Jewish, yet Jews comprise only 1.7 percent of the US population. Hmmmmm!
funny, separation of church and state but these fairy tale believing fools still spend billions on lobbying. Maybe we're the fools for actually thinking we can keep this religious nonsense out of our government.
Or are we foolish for thinking that we can prevent our leaders from taking money for favors?
I'm betting the "separation between church and state" gets overturned before "the right to bear arms" and when that happens I'll be living in Tierra del fuego to live a few more days before the radiation arrives there.
Barry said it right, they will take your money, won't do a dam thing but taKE YOUR MONEY.
Overly religious folks crack me up. Live the best life you can and let God judge.
I AGREE WITH JIMMY DEAN 🙂 🙂 🙂
Why should our leaders receive any money?
They are paid quite well, and they receive a lifetime pension.
They should not receive a dime.
Did you see the lead story on Sixty Minutes, which aired two weeks ago, about how both parties are getting extremely wealthy, by using insider information.
That's why this country is in trouble.
I AGREE WITH BERRY WHITE
Yes....the people who are supposed to monitor illegal activities are participating in it themselves. US politicians should not criticize Mexican politics...they are just as corrupt and hide it under the guise of "freedom".
The invisible flying spaghetti monster frowns upon this waste of time and energy.
WOW ANOTHER ON LSD THATS TWO IN A ROW
Pastafarianism somehow not listed in this article. I claim religious bias.
What drug do you take to pretend your drinking a 2,000 year old Jew's blood and cannibalizing his body with your ped0 pals?
GodofLunaticsCreation
YOUR ON DRUGS WITH THAT COME BACK NOOB DRINK SOME H8TERADE AND HIGH FIVE YOUR FACE YOU TEABAG JEW
Oh earl. You are a good laugh. Just wind you up and watch you go.
YOUR FUNNY MAN AND NOOB PRESS YOUR BUTTONS AND WATCH YOU GLOW I WANT YOU TO EXPRESS YOUR HATE THAT YOUR PARENTS NEVER HELD YOU AS A CHILD
R'amen!
earl – a prime example of why meth is bad for you...
R'amen indeed.
Aw goddammit.
ROFLMAO! Best comment on this thread.