Obama for non-discriminatory faith-based programs

I admit I was pretty angry when I first read Obama was pushing the notion of government social services being delivered through faith-based groups. Under George W. Bush, the Christian Right has made out like a bandit, grabbing buckets of tax dollars with no safeguards in place to protect the constitutional separation of church and state.

Obama's plan, however, is contrary to Bush's doling out government funds to fundamentalist groups so they can carry out their main mission which is always - always - to first convert the ones they serve. To actually care for their constituents comes last and isn't really all that important. The Bush regime has thrown billions of dollars at these groups in the past eight years with almost no accountability.

It is true that we have a long history of the government working with religious groups, but always with constitutional safeguards in place. Bush dumped those safeguards. The safeguards, said Bush, got in the way of the work of the organizations. Thus, they have been able to hire and fire based on a person's religious views, and proselytizing has been the order of the day.

Obama believes we should try again, reinstituting the constitutional bans on proselytizing and discrimination. I'm not convinced that such a plan is either necessary or good. Obama thinks that "The challenges we face today - from saving our planet to ending poverty - are simply too big for government to solve alone."

That may be true but it doesn't necessarily translate to engaging religious groups to do the government's work. In fact, privatization of government responsibilities has myriads of problems and often fails to deliver on its promises. We've seen that in Chuck Colson's national prison ministry, and in Florida's faith-based rehabilitation programs both of which have been criticized for placing sectarian issues first.


But maybe Obama is right. His plan means that a religious organization cannot discriminate against the people they hire on the basis of their religion. Furthermore, money given to religious organizations can be used only for secular programs (not "secular" programs that are mostly engaged in promoting conversion.)

For the fundys in our midst, that's not going to do it. Most, if not all, fundamentalist churches and organizations demand that their employees confess specific religious beliefs, and many have them sign a statement of faith. Secondly, the goal of every Christian fundamentalist organization is the conversion of "sinners," defined as people who have not committed their lives to Jesus Christ. Everything else is secondary. That's their very nature.

And that's fine. But, they cannot take government dollars -- your tax dollars and mine -- to use in their evangelistic mission!

So, if Obama thought he would garner a few votes with this faith-based proposal, he's SOL. And maybe that's just as well. We've had more than enough of these damn faith-based programs using tax dollars to sell Jesus to those who just want a bed and some food.