U.S. State Department acknowledges possible misuse of funds to promote atheism

null / Credit: Mark Van Scyoc/Shutterstock

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Aug 5, 2024 / 06:00 am (CNA).

Members of the United States Congress are demanding immediate answers after the U.S. State Department admitted a $500,000 grant the agency awarded to a humanist group may have been misused to promote atheism in Nepal and Asia under the guise of “religious freedom.”

House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul, R-Texas, is demanding the State Department disclose exactly how much it knew about a pro-atheist organization called “Humanists International” (HI) and its efforts to promote atheism before it awarded the group a $500,000 grant.

McCaul has given the State Department until Aug. 6 to comply with demands for more information, threatening a congressional subpoena if the agency fails to comply.

What is going on?

For several months, high-ranking members of the State Department denied accusations that the agency was funding efforts to promote atheism abroad. However, in an April 29 letter to the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Assistant Secretary of State for Legislative Affairs Naz Durakoğlu acknowledged that the department may have been misled about the exact nature of HI’s humanist and atheist activism.

Humanists International is a coalition of dozens of “humanist, rationalist, secular, ethical culture, atheist, and freethought” organizations. According to the group’s website, part of its mission is to “encourage the growth” of humanism, which it defines as “a democratic and ethical life stance” that “does not accept supernatural views of reality.”

Humanists International Chief Executive Gary McLelland has specifically expressed “disgust” for the Catholic Church and said in a 2019 interview that he considers it his job to “combat the Vatican policies and to push against them.”

The State Department awarded HI $500,000 under funds made available by a 2021 program titled “Promoting and Defending Religious Freedom Inclusive of Atheist, Humanist, Non-Practicing, and Non-Affiliated Individuals.”

In March of this year, State Department Deputy Secretary for Management and Resources Richard Verma testified that he was very familiar with HI’s mission and that based on its grant application he considered the group to be a “exactly the right kind of program” for the department to fund.

He asserted that HI’s aim was not to advance atheist proselytizing efforts but simply to “support civil society and protect them from persecution.”

However, the department has since stated that HI provided the incorrect training materials when applying for the grant and that it was “deeply concerned” about the contents of the actual material being used.

Durakoğlu’s April 29 letter claimed that the new information sent to the department “directly contradicts Humanists International’s previous representation to the department that the slides [training materials] it had earlier provided were the ones used at the training.”

She said the department was “deeply concerned” about the contents of the actual materials being used, indicating that the U.S. funds sent to HI could have been abused.

In response, several members of the House Foreign Affairs Committee said 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.”

What’s next?

In a July 29 letter sent to Verma, McCaul said that though the State Department claimed to have been misled it had still failed to disclose all its correspondence with HI, leaving questions about how much the department knew of the group.

McCaul said he expects the department to turn over all its correspondence with HI by Aug. 6. If the department fails to comply, McCaul said he will issue a congressional subpoena.

“The department has engaged in a pattern of obfuscation and denial regarding the details of the grant as it sought, vis-à-vis its grantee, to expand atheist networks abroad in violation of the establishment clause of the U.S. Constitution,” McCaul wrote.

He referenced another letter sent by other members of the Foreign Affairs Committee in May in which the members expressed they were “skeptical” the department had any intention to fulfill its promise to take corrective action or recoup the money granted to HI under false pretenses.

McCaul said the department’s continued failure to produce its correspondence with HI demonstrates an “unacceptable continuation” of evading responsibility for its misuse of funds. 

“Such revelations are alarming and remain a pressing matter for congressional oversight,” McCaul wrote. “The committee has stated its expectation ‘to be informed fully, and without delay, of all developments in this matter.’ Accordingly, the committee expects a comprehensive update on this matter imminently.”

Additionally, Rep. Chris Smith, R-New Jersey, who also sits on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, 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.

Michael Finan, a representative for Smith, told CNA that the State Department has been “misinterpreting one of Congressman Smith’s four religious freedom laws” and that this new bill would “make sure that they comply with congressional intent.”