Obama Advised to Avoid 'Failure' of Past Faith-Based Program

By Jennifer Riley, Christian Post Reporter Thursday, July 03, 2008

A leading progressive Christian leader warned Barack Obama of the "failure" of the faith-based program under President Bush which he hopes the Democratic presidential candidate will avoid if elected to the White House.

Jim Wallis, founder of Sojourners, the largest network of progressive Christians in the United States, said he has been "deeply disappointed" with the "politicizing" of the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives office along partisan line.

Instead of a partnership between the public sector and the faith community, the initiative became a "substitute for necessary public policies" dealing with poverty in the country under the current administration, Wallis expressed Tuesday.

However, Obama's speech helped reassure the progressive evangelical leader that the idea of a true faith-public partnership was possible. The new faith-based initiative, according to Wallis, would be based on the "solid foundation" of a real partnership and the government's commitment to "sound public policy" to reduce poverty.

"The key to today's proposal is that it is based on public and faith-based partnership, and will not become another replacement for sound public policy," Wallis said in a statement released after Obama's announcement on Tuesday.

"To truly be successful, this initiative must utilize the unique resources and identity of the faith community while, at the same time, recognizing the indispensible role that government and public policy must play in tackling the root causes of poverty," according to Wallis. "Obama's proposals also contain necessary protections for religious liberty, pluralism and constitutional safeguards."

But the conservative Family Research Council criticized both Obama and Wallis for supporting a plan that would not allow religious groups who apply for the program's fund to hire and fire based on faith.

"The reality is that Obama's interpretation would be a body blow to religious groups that apply for federal funds," FRC contended in its newsletter Wednesday.

Instead, the pro-family group praised Republican presumptive presidential nominee John McCain's statement on Wednesday that says he supports the rights of religious groups to apply for government funding to "hire people who share their faith."

Wallis, who is the bestselling author of the book The Great Awakening, Reviving Faith and Politics In a Post-Religious Right America, said he hopes the faith-based initiative can unite people across partisan lines.