In late May, the U.S. State Department was accused of misusing funds made available through a program called “Promoting and Defending Religious Freedom Inclusive of Atheist, Humanist, Non-Practicing and Non-Affiliated Individuals.”
The allegations center around grants provided to organizations promoting secularism or atheistic viewpoints, especially in regions such as Nepal and Asia, where religious freedom is under threat. The amount awarded was $500,000, and it was given to a group known as Humanists International. Its members include humanist, rationalist, secular, ethical culture, atheist and freethought organizations from all over the world. HI claims its mission is to “encourage the growth” of a humanism that defines itself as “a democratic and ethical life stance that does not accept supernatural views of reality.”
Rep. Mike McCaul of Texas, who chairs the House Foreign Affairs Committee, and Rep. Chris Smith of New Jersey, who heads the panel’s human rights subcommittee, have accused the State Department of trying to promote atheism oversees under the guise of advancing religious pluralism. They contend that taxpayer money should not support initiatives perceived to favor specific ideological groups. However, defenders of these programs often highlight their importance in promoting religious freedom and tolerance globally. In a letter sent to Deputy Secretary of State Richard Verma, Reps. McCaul and Smith charged the State Department with engaging in a “pattern of obfuscation and denial” throughout the investigation to “expand atheism networks” overseas. The First Amendment’s Establishment Clause of the Constitution bars the use of tax dollars to promote theocracy, a specific religion or belief system.
For more than a year, officials from the State Department claimed that the grant’s work was not aimed at increasing the number and influence of atheists abroad, but was merely a routine award aimed at promoting the larger goal of religious tolerance in South and Central Asia or the Middle East and North Africa, the grant offerings’ targeted area.
The State Department said its stated aim for the grant was to prevent discrimination against individuals who do not adhere to the predominant religious tradition in these areas. In several of these countries, blasphemy and anti-conversion laws, such as those in Nigeria, prohibit insults to the prevailing religion and are often used to enact harsh penalties against religious minorities, atheists and other nonbelievers.
The State Department provided another grant in 2021 to help “expand” religious freedom and tolerance in Mozambique, where Christians face horrific levels of persecution despite making up 50% of the population.
What is in question is that the grant issued to support religious freedom may have been used to support specific ideological groups promoting atheism. It can be argued that funding atheist groups reflects an ideological bias inconsistent with the principle of religious neutrality. HI officials assert that their aim was not to advance atheist proselytizing efforts but simply to “support civil society and protect them from persecution.”
The State Department finally concluded that HI misled them and that they are “deeply concerned” about the materials being used by them, admitting that the U.S. funds sent to HI could have been abused. In response to this revelation by the State Department, the House Foreign Affairs Committee stated that “despite all of the evasions by the department, it is now plain that the grant promoted atheism and expanded atheist networks abroad while neglecting Christian and Muslim minorities who, unlike atheists and humanists, face real persecution in the relevant parts of South Asia.”
In 2016, Rep. Smith, a longtime human rights champion in Congress, worked to update the religious freedom law to expressly protect the rights of people around the world who practice no religion at all. However, in this case, due to the misuse of the grant by HI, Rep. Smith has introduced a bill to amend the Religious Freedom Restoration Act and the Foreign Assistance Act to “prohibit preferential federal grant treatment for atheist groups.”
Father Joseph D. Wallace is diocesan director of Ecumenical and Inter-religious Affairs and pastor of Christ the Redeemer Parish, Atco.
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