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Loading ...Obama expected to name DuBois to faith office
01.30.2009 11:00am EST
(Washington) President Barack Obama has chosen Joshua DuBois to lead his White House-based effort to steer federal social service dollars to religious charities and get them more involved in government anti-poverty efforts.
DuBois, a political strategist who was religious affairs director in the Obama campaign, will head the President’s Council for Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships, a senior administration official said. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the announcement had not yet been made by Obama.Obama said during the campaign that he wanted to expand White House faith-based efforts begun under former President George W. Bush.
But while he endorsed Bush’s initiative to give religious groups more equal footing when getting federal funding, he also promised to tweak it.
He has changed the name of the White House effort from its original Office of Faith-based Initiatives to display a broader focus. Obama has promised to increase spending on social services, increase training for charities applying for funding and make that a grass-roots effort, and to elevate the program’s status within the White House.
And while Bush supported allowing all religious groups to make any employment decisions based on faith, Obama has proposed allowing religious institutions to hire and fire based on religion only in the non-taxpayer-funded portions of their activities – consistent with current federal, state and local laws. Where there are state or local laws prohibiting hiring choices based on sexual orientation in the federally funded portion of the programs, he has said he would support those being applied.
Among DuBois’ duties on the Obama campaign was reaching out to the evangelical community. Though not a natural Democratic constituency, evangelicals have had increased common cause with Democrats on issues of the environment and poverty.
The story was first reported by The New York Times.
NO! NO! NO! A THOUSAND TIMES NO! I know for a FACT that charities run by kraven kowardly konservative kristianist kultist krazies (KKKKKK for short) will NO serve GLBTQAI clients even in NON-religious areas like crash housing and food. The Salvation Army doesn’t; the San Diego Rescue Mission doesn’t; I doubt SERIOUSLY if St. Vincent de Paul Village provides for homelesss married same-sex families, since that would be a mortal “sin” in the eyes of “pope” Maledict the XVI.
The non-profits need to have their tax-exempt status taken AWAY (vide the POLITICAL activities of Romans, Mormons, KKKKKKs, etc.), NOT have them ENHANCED by government give-aways.
Why the HELL is MY tax money going to support people who want me dead, or in hell, or both, and want to break up my marriage and my family???!!!
Our Constitution doesn’t separate church and state. Why shouldn’t faith based groups get federal dollars to help support their services? These, for the most part, are local groups that provide services that the local governments and/or the feds can’t or won’t provide. They provide them without all the red tape that accompanies most government programs. If a church can operate a job training program more efficiently than the local government, that church should get support. These aren’t services that are provided solely to church members but to the community as a whole.
Just another embarrassment living in this theocracy.
I’m still not willing to give President Obama a pass on Rick Warren and the fact that he is moving further and further away from openly supporting diversity and deeper into pandering to the Evangelic Right.
When was the last time you heard Obama mention gays and lesbians or even sexual orientation when he was speaking publicly?
It’s looking more and more to me like we’ve hitched our wagon to a horse who just became a different color.
“Faith-based” programs should not be funded by the government. They are only a means for the churches to get their paws on taxpayer money. Charity is something you are supposed to do with your own money. It is not charity when someone else is paying for it.
Caveat: this coming from a gay Christian.
I don’t think its a bad idea to help churches feed and clothe and shelter people, ESPECIALLY if they will have to follow normal law as other business do in hiring/firing/etc. Yes they get the chance to spew their hate (some of them, others just talk about God more esoterically, or not at all even. I’ve seen all three).
Here’s the deal. The atheist groups and Muslim, etc groups that are helping people should get the same chance to that federal money, and ergo the same chance to tell someone “We just want to let you know we are feeding you because we believe xyz.”
To me it’s quite simple. We are helping these groups help those who would otherwise not get help they need.
Unfortunately Obama is apparently on a tangent of trying to cover all bases in an effort to please everyone. You can’t please everyone no matter what you do.
Always will be people unhappy regardless of how he approaches things. Maybe he is just trying to strike a “balance”.
Absolute necessity of separation of church and state and faith hased whatever is never the way to go for our US government.
We need to be sure that whatever our government does is religion-free.
We already had the invccation and prayers at his inauguration which is his right and his choice.
But now we are 100% on the people’s time.
The inauguration is over and gone.
It is no longer his day, the day after
inauguration it became 100%
the people’s day and government is of the people, for the people and by the people.
And that means transparency and accountability in government must be there and it also means all business and no religion.
Religion should be strictly personal and private during the few moments of Obama’s lone time and family time before and after his official work hours and Sunday or whatever his one day a week off he selects for himself and his family and nothing and while it might guide him as a man in his few private moments and with his family…..
it has to be put aside while on the job as the current US president.
Faith based is fine when funded from private sources on private sector time but never with taxpayer moneys on governrment time. That time and money is for the business of the people of this nation. The People should say no, this is not an appropriate use of our taxpayer dollars.
There are many people here of all kinds of faiths and also many non-believers as well and the only way to treat all fairly is to fund only government-based aid programs whose only consideration is the person and his/her documentable level of practical need based on solid rules and regulations governing what type of aid a person qualifies for rather than private charities and/or faith based programs where you could be running to the problem of things being run by this religion or that with its own agenda regarding who gets served.
This is a slippery slope and may not have sufficient government oversight and could pose a problem with discrimination against GLBT people.
It is a big mistake to continue Bush admin’s failed approach to things like this and again CAN WE PLEASE HAVE A VERY PRECISELY DEFINED SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE FROM NOW ON, MR PRESIDENT? SUCH AS ZERO DOLLARS FROM US TREASURY AND FROM THE TAXPAYERS’ POCKETS FOR ANYTHING THE LEAST BIT REMOTELY FAITH BASED?
>Hello separation of church and state…. Why should my tax dollars go to any religious institution for any reason….
For two reasons. 1) Your tax dollars (theoretically) would not be funding religious activities…instead, the government would be contracting with third party to provide social services (shelters, food pantries, adoption, and so on), and 2) An argument has been made that, in many parts of the country, religious organizations have a better infrastructure and trust factor in delivering services than the federal government can or does have.
If these organizations can be held to the letter of the law around not applying religious standards to employment in these social-service wings, and if they don’t openly proselytize, then this would be very, very, very close to contracting with a secular agency.
Religion has NO PLACE IN GOVERNMENT, people, because our Constitution separates Church and State. Bush sullied the distinction because he was a religious zealot, as are most on the Right. And exactly what is Mr. Obama?
This will be a positive approach to pushing religious organizations away from discriminations against LGBT.
Separation of Church & State is fundamental to our movement but pushing Relgious Institutions towards greater employement tolerance is pertinent as well.
Christian Universities will want part of this money, which means that they won’t be able to fire students who are openly gay.
Excellent approach President Obama.
NO!! U.S. Taxpayer money should not be going to ANY religious based organization regardless of the beliefs or intentions.
Obama is reaching out, even more, to the evangelical christians who actively do not believe in equality of rights for GLBTs and who put their money where their mouths are. We hired a man who talked progressive and acts center-right. David Sirota makes sense about that.
Me Said: “Hello separation of church and state…. Why should my tax dollars go to any religious institution for any reason….”
And that comment sums it up so perfectly that I thought it worthy of repeating.
Hello separation of church and state…. Why should my tax dollars go to any religious institution for any reason….
YES!! Obama has proposed allowing religious institutions to hire and fire based on religion only in the non-taxpayer-funded portions of their activities – consistent with current federal, state and local laws. Where there are state or local laws prohibiting hiring choices based on sexual orientation in the federally funded portion of the programs, he has said he would support those being applied.
…..and STONEWALL 2.0 will be watching and reporting!