Future of Faith-based & Community Initiatives
In 2001, as one of his first initiatives, President Bush introduced an executive order: the Faith-based and Community Initiative. The purpose was to level the playing field so that faith-based groups could compete for public funds and become a recommended social service provider. Much of the foundation was actually provided by President Clinton and Congress who signed into law “Charitable Choice” which opened the doors for faith-based groups to compete in select government funded programs without changing their identity. Some have assailed these efforts as a failure or just another political scheme but as one who hosted initial gatherings of faith-based leaders at the White House and provided technical assistance to thousands of organizational leaders it has and will continue to bear much fruit. What both President Clinton and Bush envisioned was an equal opportunity for faith-based and community organizations so that people in need would have access to the best help. In short, if you marginalize any group from competing then you reduce the choices people have to receive the finest quality of services available. To oppose that is nothing short of being un-American and inhumane. Where the candidates stand on the continuation of Charitable Choice and the Faith-based and Community Initiatives is beginning to surface.
The Pew Forum, Religion and Politics reported:
“McCain supports faith-based initiatives and has cited charter schools in Arizona as good examples of effective faith-based organizations. He voted for a U.S. Senate version of President Bush’s faith-based initiative designed to make it easier for religious groups that provide social services to compete for federal grants. McCain’s spokesperson, Brett O’Donnell, says that, if elected, McCain wants faith-based organizations to “have at least the same standing as they have now.”
Barack Obama When asked if he would keep the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives open, Obama said he would need to investigate the office’s operations because of the danger that federal money could be allocated to churches ‘based on politics, as opposed to merit and substance.’ He says the office should be ‘open to everybody” and not allow ‘certain groups to be able to evangelize.’
This past week both Senator Obama and Senator McCain offered more details:
“John McCain supports faith based initiatives, and recognizes their important role in our communities. He has co-sponsored legislation to foster improved partnerships with community organizations, including faith-based organizations, to assist with substance abuse and violence prevention. He also believes that it is important for faith-based groups to be able to hire people who share their faith, and he disagrees with Senator Obama that hiring at faith-based groups should be subject to government oversight.”
This statement is a response to Sen. Obama’s guidelines, issued yesterday, which propose restricting religious staffing in any program operated with federal funds (while preserving the religious staffing freedom when the funds are nongovernmental).
Given the importance of religious staffing to many faith-based organizations, McCain’s statement is very welcome. Now for further details on how Senator McCain intends to build a better relationship between government and the many civil society organizations–many of them faith-based–that perform such vital roles in our society . . .
See the McCain statement here:
McCain campaign statement
See the Obama campaign fact sheet detailing the Obama plan and the new restrictions he proposes:
Obama Guidelines
Hiring rights will become the central issue for both candidates to defend especially if elected President. If a faith-based organization cannot hire someone who shares their faith and values then they are faced with only two options: to compromise in their hiring practices or not compete for government grants and contracts. Senator Obama’s view is a deviation from both the Clinton and Bush administrations that vigorously defended this right.
Senator Obama’s view stands in contrast to his testimony of how Jesus has changed his life. For other followers of Jesus the key to their organizations success is the “Spirit of God” working through Christian believers (employed or volunteers) for the faith-based organization to bring transformation to peoples lives. If an organization that is based on faith in God is required to hire people not of faith then you are asking groups to change the very basis for why they exist to garner public funds.
Further, isn’t that a violation of the organizations civil rights!!!
Everyone has an ideology. Would a leader from Planned Parenthood hire a Pro-lifer? Would a Democrat or Republican hire someone that does not share their campaign’s vision and values? To prohibit a faith-based group from hiring someone that shares their ideology is blatant discrimination. I appeal to Senator Obama who I believe has a genuine relationship with Jesus Christ to ask “Does my Savior and Lord share this view?” Much progress has been made under the last two administrations to build bridges between government social services and the faith community to provide people with a broader menu of choices. If Senator Obama is elected President and does not protect the hiring rights of faith-based groups that receive public funds then he will become the biggest foe of his vision to bring “a new project of renewal in America.”