From Deborah White,
Your Guide to US Liberal Politics.
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Jan 18 2005

"The government gave more than $1 billion in 2003 to organizations it considers 'faith-based,' with some going to programs where prayer and spiritual guidance are central…" recently reported Laura Meckler, AP writer.

What's wrong with federal funding of faith-based social services groups? What's actually wrong with providing faith-based homeless, hunger and rehabilitation service programs equal footing with secular community-based groups when applying for grants?

At first sound byte, the idea is inspired. Most religious groups labor with love and fervor to serve all humanity. It seems only fair that religious organizations not be handicapped by discrimination in the race against secular groups for federal funds.

In January 2001, President Bush created, via Executive Order, the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives. Since then, Centers for Faith-Based and Community Initiatives were established at five federal agencies, assistance and guidebooks were provided to religious groups to help them to apply for federal funds, and webs sites were created for speedy access to applications.

And in February 2004, the President issued an Executive Order earmarking an astonishing $3.7 billion to be doled out to faith-based and other community organizations.

Apparently, Bush's faith-based initiative was never intended to level the proverbial playing field for religious-related groups in the federal grants process. As originally conceived, Bush's faith-based initiative was to be the centerpiece of his administration's domestic agenda, spearheading the final attack on the New Deal and the War on Poverty, transferring a host of government programs from federal agencies to the religious sector.

It was never intended to give religious organizations equal footing in the grant application process or to augment existing federal programs. It was intended to replace the federal social services, thus removing federal agencies entirely from the process of caring compassionately for its citizens.

Again recently from AP…. "President Bush has succeeded in opening the checkbooks of five federal departments to religious organizations. Now he's setting his sights on money doled out by the states. The goal is to persuade states to funnel more of the federal money for social service programs that they administer to 'faith-based organizations.'

Federal regulations now allow federal agencies to directly fund churches and other religious groups. Bush acted alone to rewrite these regulations after failing to persuade Congress to change the law.

Partly as a result, in 2003, groups dubbed "faith-based" received $1.17 billion in grants from federal agencies, according to documents provided by the White House…That was about 8 percent of the $14.5 billion spent on social programs that qualify for faith-based grants in five federal departments.

That's not enough, said Jim Towey, director of the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives. An additional $40 billion in federal money is given out by state governments, he said, and many states do not realize that federal rules now allow them to fund these organizations. "