Spring Break
Obama talks about faith
Faith-based initiatives to stay if he is elected
MCT
Issue date: 7/2/08 Section: Features
Michael W. Macleod-Ball, the chief legislative and policy counsel for the American Civil Liberties Union, reserved judgment but said, "We want to make sure that one religion is not favored over any other religion or over no religion. ... the more contacts you have between government and religion, the harder it is to meet that standard."
Jim Towey, a former director of Bush's faith office who's now the president of Saint Vincent College in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, said he was encouraged that Obama wanted to continue the initiative. But Towey said he expected that the hiring mandates would frustrate many organizations, including African-American churches and evangelicals.
"The reality is an Orthodox Jewish group ceases to be Orthodox if they have to hire atheists or Southern Baptists," Towey said. "What Senator Obama is saying is groups will have to secularize if they play ball with government and receive federal funding, and that flies in the face of what many small groups want. You're going to sap these groups of their effectiveness when you block them from hiring people who have the same heart and vision."
Obama has been under pressure to clarify his stance on religion's role in government since his former pastor's racially polarizing statements pushed Obama to leave his church of two decades. Obama's remarks Tuesday could help him move beyond that controversy and perhaps increase his appeal to religious voters.
His stand is consistent with a faith agenda that Obama, 46, has long advocated. In his 2006 memoir, "The Audacity of Hope," Obama wrote that he was drawn to join a black church in his 20s because of its tradition of social change and community ministry.
Obama wrote of the danger he sees in fellow Democrats minimizing religion: "We need to take faith seriously not simply to block the religious right, but to engage all persons of faith in the larger project of American renewal."
Obama's prepared remarks Tuesday included goals dear to liberals, who often are wary of faith-based policy.
"If we are going to do something about the injustice of millions of children living in extreme poverty, we need interfaith coalitions like the 'Let Justice Roll' campaign standing up for the powerless," Obama said.
That interfaith group pushed for an increase in the federal minimum wage in Congress last year.
Bush last week trumpeted his own faith-based initiative as part of his presidential legacy, saying that "more of our fellow citizens have discovered that the pursuit of happiness leads to the path of service" and that by his administration's count, 35 governors--19 Democrats and 16 Republicans--had established their own faith-based programs.
Asked about Obama's plan, a White House spokeswoman, Emily Lawrimore, said simply that Bush hoped that the next administration would continue his faith-based initiative.
Jim Towey, a former director of Bush's faith office who's now the president of Saint Vincent College in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, said he was encouraged that Obama wanted to continue the initiative. But Towey said he expected that the hiring mandates would frustrate many organizations, including African-American churches and evangelicals.
"The reality is an Orthodox Jewish group ceases to be Orthodox if they have to hire atheists or Southern Baptists," Towey said. "What Senator Obama is saying is groups will have to secularize if they play ball with government and receive federal funding, and that flies in the face of what many small groups want. You're going to sap these groups of their effectiveness when you block them from hiring people who have the same heart and vision."
Obama has been under pressure to clarify his stance on religion's role in government since his former pastor's racially polarizing statements pushed Obama to leave his church of two decades. Obama's remarks Tuesday could help him move beyond that controversy and perhaps increase his appeal to religious voters.
His stand is consistent with a faith agenda that Obama, 46, has long advocated. In his 2006 memoir, "The Audacity of Hope," Obama wrote that he was drawn to join a black church in his 20s because of its tradition of social change and community ministry.
Obama wrote of the danger he sees in fellow Democrats minimizing religion: "We need to take faith seriously not simply to block the religious right, but to engage all persons of faith in the larger project of American renewal."
Obama's prepared remarks Tuesday included goals dear to liberals, who often are wary of faith-based policy.
"If we are going to do something about the injustice of millions of children living in extreme poverty, we need interfaith coalitions like the 'Let Justice Roll' campaign standing up for the powerless," Obama said.
That interfaith group pushed for an increase in the federal minimum wage in Congress last year.
Bush last week trumpeted his own faith-based initiative as part of his presidential legacy, saying that "more of our fellow citizens have discovered that the pursuit of happiness leads to the path of service" and that by his administration's count, 35 governors--19 Democrats and 16 Republicans--had established their own faith-based programs.
Asked about Obama's plan, a White House spokeswoman, Emily Lawrimore, said simply that Bush hoped that the next administration would continue his faith-based initiative.
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