Stephen F. Kislock, III – 12/28/06

This page was last updated on December 28, 2006.

Separate religion and state; Stephen F. Kislock, III; Beaver County Times; December 28, 2006.

I sometimes forget to engage my brain before speaking. In this letter, Mr. Kislock is guilty of the same offense.

Below is a detailed critique of the letter.

“In response to the Dec. 19 article ‘Geneva sues job list service:’

“The Constitution of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania’s preamble states, ‘We, the people of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, grateful to Almighty God for the blessings of civil and religious liberty, and humbly invoking His guidance, do ordain this Constitution.’

“Religious extremism and religious persecution are condemned as morally wrong.”

[RWC] Mr. Kislock must be reading between the lines because the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania says nothing about “[r]eligious extremism and religious persecution.” With his ability to read what he wants to read, Mr. Kislock would be a good liberal judicial nominee. <g>

When a Christian college wants to hire Christian – as opposed to atheist, Jewish, Muslim, et cetera – faculty members, is Mr. Kislock calling that “[r]eligious extremism and religious persecution?”

“Yet, Geneva College in Beaver Falls wants to practice religious discrimination in hiring. What is it using as its employment guide?”

[RWC] Remember, Geneva College is a private Christian college founded by the Reformed Presbyterian Church of North America whose mission statement says, “The mission of Geneva College is to glorify God by educating and ministering to a diverse community of students for the purpose of developing servant-leaders, transforming society for the kingdom of Christ.”

Does Mr. Kislock really expect us to believe requiring faculty and staff religious beliefs to be compatible with the religious mission of the school is wrong?

“Constitution of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Religious Freedom Section 3: ‘All men have a natural and indefeasible right to worship Almighty God according to the dictates of their own conscience; no man can of right be compelled to attend, erect or support any place of worship, or to maintain any ministry against his consent; no human authority can, in any case whatever, control or interfere with the rights of conscience, and no preference shall ever be given by law to any religious establishments or modes of worship.’

“There is $10 million of Geneva College property untaxed in Beaver Falls; one quarter of the city’s tax base is untaxed. A million dollars-plus of Pennsylvania taxpayers’ money is being spent to reroute Route 18 so Geneva College can expand Reeves Stadium. How can state tax dollars go to a religious institution?”

[RWC] Mr. Kislock quoted a couple of irrelevant portions of the Constitution, but stopped long before “Article VII – Taxation and Finance.” Why? Because provisions under “Section 2 – Exemptions and Special Provisions” would get in the way of Mr. Kislock’s rant. You see, one of the exemptions is for “Actual places of regularly states [sic] religious worship” and state law authorizes exemptions for educational institutions.

If Geneva College property were subject to property taxes apparently as Mr. Kislock wants, the government would be violating the Constitution by discriminating against Geneva simply because of its religious affiliation. The other alternative would be to revoke property tax exemptions for all educational institutions.