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Controversy brewing on role of faith based social services
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National Public Radio's Morning Edition had an interesting story this morning about the controversy brewing in the Office of Faith Based and Neighborhood Partnerships:
President Obama is expected on Thursday to announce his version of the Office for Faith Based and Neighborhood Partnerships, which brings together government and religious groups to provide social services. Obama is trying to avoid the Constitutional fights that plagued a similar program under his predecessor. But, the office is already caught up in controversy.
The issue revolves around the requirements linked with government funding. Usually, as a condition of federal funding, contractors must agree not to discriminate in employment on the basis of religion, or any other class protected by federal antidiscrimination laws. Federal money shouldn't be spent in a discriminatory manner. This raises a problem when the funding goes to religious organizations, which have rights to freely exercise their religion. So do those organizations have to agree to hire people who aren't members of the same religion or whose conduct might violate the tenets of the religion?
President Bush avoided the issue by signing an executive order creating an exemption to this rule for faith based organizations. President Obama suggested while he was campaigning that he would not exempt faith based-organizations from these rules:
If you get a federal grant, you can’t use that grant money to proselytize to the people you help and you can’t discriminate against them — or against the people you hire — on the basis of their religion . . . Federal dollars that go directly to churches, temples and mosques can only be used on secular programs.
According to the story, groups on both sides are getting ready to file suit the minute that the President sets the rules for his office. The story was very thoughtful, and I recommend a listen.
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