Faith-based Obama

Barack Obama, making an early move in the traditional post-nomination shift toward the center, is touting the Bush program which provides public money for religious institutions that perform public services, often called faith-based initiatives. The Washington Post article quotes Obama: "What I'm saying is that we all have to work together -- Christian and Jew, Hindu and Muslim, believer and nonbeliever alike -- to meet the challenges of the 21st century."

I never liked the program before, and I'm not going to start liking it now. It assists mainstream religions to become more mainstream, leaving other faiths outside the circle of firelight, certainly out of reach of the pork-barrel, if I may combine metaphors into a nice barbecue. Just one example of the kind of problems that have been exacerbated by the cash influx is given here. Teen Challenge, one recipient, actively converts Jews to Christianity while getting them off drugs. GWB made it plain early in his first term that he didn't consider Paganism to be a real religion, and I'm waiting to hear word from Obama.

I still support Obama, don't get me wrong, but I'm not happy about this. According to the Pew Forum U.S. Religious Landscape Survey, "Other" religions are big democrats. In the shift to the center, I hope he doesn't leave them behind. I believe, as do many, that the government should not subcontract social work, education, or indeed anything, to religious institutions.