Recently in this group, many of us were introduced to The Templeton Foundation

[MineralMan]

for the first time, in a post about a fellowship awarded to someone. Curiosity, as always, led me to see what I could learn about this Templeton Foundation. Replies in that thread mentioned its right-wing ties, so I looked around. One of the things I found was this blog by David Barash at The Chronicle of Higher Education website:

https://www.chronicle.com/blogs/brainstorm/the-truth-about-the-temple-of-templeton/44868

The Truth about the Temple of Templeton

In 1972, billionaire investor Sir John Templeton established the Templeton Foundation, best known for bestowing its annual Templeton Prize for Progress in Religion, which was intended to fill a “spiritual gap” left by the Nobel Prizes, and which does so by pointedly paying more than the Nobel does. The Templeton Prize was later renamed the Templeton Prize for Progress toward Research or Discoveries about Spiritual Realities, which some of us perceived as reflecting a surprisingly honest recognition of the predictable and ongoing lack of “progress in religion.” Its current function is to co-opt science in the service of religion … and not the “liberation theology” version.

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A major Republican activist and donor, John Jr’s millions helped sponsor Let Freedom Ring, which labored to get out the evangelical vote for George W. Bush; he has also been a major contributor to Freedom’s Watch, which paid for tv commercials supporting the war in Iraq, the candidacy of John McCain, and, more recently, the campaign for California’s Proposition 8 which—briefly—helped do the Lord’s good work by banning same-sex marriage.

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Although ostensibly nonpartisan, the Templeton Foundation has a special place in its great, bleeding philanthropic heart for “free enterprise,” having given cash awards to historian Gertrude Himmelfarb and economist Milton Friedman, as well as the following conservative organizations: Heritage Foundation, the Manhattan Institute, the Federalist Society and the National Association of Scholars. On its website, the Templeton Foundation announces that it “supports a wide range of programs and research initiatives to study the benefits of competition, specifically how free enterprise and other principles of capitalism can, and do, benefit the poor.”

It seems there is more to this organization than meets the eye at first glance. I will continue to look into it. Funding from foundations like this is generally given to people who support and can further the organization's goals. I'm more than a little concerned about The Templeton Foundation, really, and it's grants to individuals.