Faith-Based Advisory Council Nears Voting on Recommendations to the President Print PDF

Written by IRFA | 24 January 2010

On February 2, by conference call, the President’s Advisory Council on Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships will hold its final discussions on the draft recommendations made by its six taskforces and then vote on those recommendations.  The approved recommendations will be presented to the President and the administration in a meeting at the White House on Feb. 9-10.

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IRFA Message Gains Traction Print PDF

Written by IRFA | 08 February 2010

IRFA President Stanley Carlson-Thies is quoted in a recent Washington Post story on President Obama’s version of the federal faith-based initiative.  Carlson-Thies, identified in the story as one of the architects of the Bush faith-based office and as currently serving on a taskforce of the President’s Advisory Council on Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships, contrasted the approaches of the two administrations:  “There had been a clear reaching out to faith groups, he said, but now the attitude is:  ‘We’re the government, doing wonderful things, YOU can come join US.’  The operation is less visible now, Carlson-Thies says.  ‘People say, “Oh, what happened to that faith-based initiative?”

 

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ADVICE TO THE PRESIDENT

The federal faith-based initiative, extending back into the Clinton administration, has always been about improving the government's relationship with private organizations--secular and faith-based, large and small--that serve needy people and communities. It has involved many program innovations, organizational changes, and reforms of rules. At the center has always been action to ensure that faith-based organizations can collaborate with government programs without having first to suppress or hide their religious identity and faith-shaped practices.

President Barack Obama has promised an expanded and improved faith-based initiative. At a minimum, his initiative must not backtrack on the gains that have been made to ensure equal opportunity for faith-based organizations to participate in federally funded programs.

Equally important, the President should work with Congress to ensure that other federal rules and regulations--in areas that do not necessarily involve government funds, such as accreditation, employment rules, and tax-exempt status--are fair to faith-based organizations, safeguarding their religious identity and characteristics.

For the Coalition to Preserve Religious Freedom's advice to candidate Barack Obama,  go here .