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ISCA
joins the "Armies of Compassion"
In
the Name of God, the Most Compassionate, the Most Merciful,
with peace
and praise on our Beloved Prophet, his Family and Companions
(Washington,
DC 04/12/02) President
George W. Bush rallied his "Armies of Compassion"
yesterday in a White House briefing to gain support for the
CARE legislation currently under consideration by the US Senate.
The Islamic Supreme Council of America was among the participants,
which included some of the nation's largest non-profit organizations
who support the President's Faith Based and Community Initiatives.
The faith-based
and community agenda is organized around three lines of action:
1. Identifying
and eliminating improper Federal barriers to effective
faith-based and community-serving programs through legislative,
regulatory,
and programmatic reforms;
2. Stimulating an outpouring of private giving to nonprofits,
faith-based
programs, and community groups by expanding tax deductions
and through other
initiatives; and,
3. Pioneering a new model of cooperation through Federal
initiatives that
expand the involvement of faith-based and community groups
in after-school
and literacy services, help the children of prisoners, and
support other
citizens in need.
A core
part of CARE - the Charity Aid Recovering Empowerment Act
- encourages more private sector giving by allowing the people
to deduct all charitable gifts from their income taxes, even
if they do not itemize on their returns. The Federal charitable
deduction will be expanded to the 80 million taxpayers - 70
percent of all filers - who do not itemize and thus cannot
currently claim this benefit. This initiative will spark billions
of dollars in new donations to charitable organizations.
In his
address, President Bush stated: "Mosques provide great
hope for people... and our government must recognize the power
of these programs. The Federal Government is adopting a new
attitude to honor and not restrict faith-based and community
initiatives, to accept rather than dismiss such programs,
and to empower rather than ignore them."
ISCA is
a proud supporter of the President's Faith Based agenda and
applauds his spirit of inclusiveness for people of all religions.
We look forward to further cooperation with the President's
new White House Office of Faith-Based and Community as it
leads and develops the Administration's
agenda to strengthen and expand grassroots and faith-based
services.
For a
copy of the publication "In Good Faith" that addresses
the faith based initiatives, please visit our website at:
http://www.islamicsupremecouncil.org/activities.
The Islamic
Supreme Council of America (ISCA) is a non-profit, non-governmental
religious organization. It is dedicated to presenting traditional,
scholarly Islamic perspectives on global issues and working
proactively with non-Muslim individuals and organizations
to present Islam as a religion of moderation, tolerance, peace
and justice.
ISCA condemns terrorism in all its forms, whether cultural,
political, intellectual or ideological.
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