Bush aide stirs up a nest of pagans
By Alan Cooperman
Washington
December 10, 2003
A senior White House aide has caused a stir by suggesting pagans do not care about the poor. Remarks by the director of the White House's Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives, H. James Towey, have incensed Wiccans, Druids and other pagans across the country.
Mr Towey was asked, during a White House sponsored online chat with someone in Missouri, whether pagan groups should be given the same considerations as other groups when applying for government funds.
"I haven't run into a pagan faith-based group yet, much less a pagan group, that cares for the poor," Mr Towey replied.
"Once you make it clear to any applicant that public money must go to public purposes and can't be used to promote ideology, the fringe groups lose interest. Helping the poor is tough work, and only those with loving hearts seem drawn to it."
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Bush aide stirs up a nest of pagans
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