Good Sounding Policy Versus Good, Sound Policy

Here is some perspective on the new Council for Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships

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Good Sounding Policy versus Good, Sound Policy

On Saturday, Jim Towey wrote an opinion piece in The Washington Post defending the White
House’s Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives, where he was the director
from 2002 to 2006.  “Talking about God on
the campaign trail might appear faith-friendly, but it is no substitute for
articulating a sound policy position on this critical initiative,” he
wrote.  “As our economy frays, this
strong new thread in our social safety net must be preserved.  The next president needs to get specific.”

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/06/27/AR2008062702631.html

Towey brought to the fore a central concern not just to this
issue but to every policy position suggested during this election season.  When the applause from the rafters recedes
once the crowds cramming into auditoriums this summer disperse, and long after
the red-white-and-blue confetti is all swept up and stashed away, how will we
know what to expect from our next president? 

How can we be sure that what sounds good will equate to
sound policy?  What can possibly indicate
that the hope we’ve built up in the next president will actually be fought for in
Washington and that the time, energy, and
money we have invested in this campaign will actually lead to measurable,
meaningful results all across America?

To phrase it another way, how can we be sure that our belief
is rightfully entrusted and that the faith that grows over the next four months
will be accompanied by deeds over the next four years?  These questions get to the very core of what
being a person who is living out their faith, and who is living in this
democracy, will be all about when making the decision about which lever to pull
this November.

As, Towey once explained, “Ultimately, faith and politics
converge in that question that has really echoed through times: Who is my
neighbor?  Am I my brother’s keeper?  Am I my sister’s keeper?  These are questions that we’re still
confronted with through time, to this day … It often triggers an individual
response, your own personal response … which could be one of indifference or it
could be one of warmth.  But also a
societal response.  And in a Democracy,
this is perfect to discuss … What does the government ask of its citizens when
it comes to the questions of the common good. 
Particularly of the poor. 
Particularly of the weak and the individuals who live at the mercy of
others.”

  http://www.law.duke.edu/webcast/mp3cast/02272007towey64.mp3

(clip begins at 8:30, ends at 10:30)

These were words that Mr. Towey used when addressing Duke University’s
Law School back in October of 2007.  A friend of mine had helped to arrange for him
to speak; and I was among the many who anticipated hearing about how he
reconciled the faith-based mission of his office with the oft-made critiques
about the separation of church and state. 
Why else would he be speaking at a law school, right?  But Mr. Towey surprised us all, instead
taking the opportunity to tell of a message involving what Mother Theresa
called “Jesus in his disguise of the poor.” 

You see, Mr. Towey was indeed an official in the Bush
Administration for four years of his life, but for twelve years before that he
had worked and traveled with Mother Teresa as her legal advisor.  So he expounded on the topic of faith and
public life by delving into private virtue as well as public values, looking to
her example of compassion.  His argument
that day was simple: in order to be honest about what we choose to practice in private
or our public policy, discussion of the two topics needed to go hand-in-hand at
some point or another.  He recounted his
early days in the Bush White House, saying, “I remember when I first started
working there … it was kind of a miracle because, first of all, I’m not a
Republican.  I’m a Democrat.  A pro-life Democrat.  There’s about ten in the country.  And here’s the opportunity to try to go there
and somehow try and help the poor.”  I’d
venture to say that there are more than ten pro-life Democrats within just a
given Durham square block alone (he was joking, although by the crowd’s reaction
you could tell that they were not sure what to make of his message at this
point); but if the audience was not quite following him then, these next words
would change that. 

He could not have been clearer about the crux of his
message: “I had not worked for President Bush in the campaign, I didn’t know
any of the people, but a year into the administration I was chosen.  But you go in there and you’re surrounded by
these really powerful people … But I have to say that in my life, the most
powerful people are the poor and the disabled and the elderly and the addicted
and the refugees.  And they’re very
powerful people because in their person they are witness to something very
powerful and important about the dignity of every man, woman, and child.  And they also have the power, in our
encounter with them, to transform our lives and to unleash in us things that we
did not know existed in us: the ability to express mercy, to express love, to
grow, to go outside of our comfort zone and to encounter individuals who appear
to be poor but in fact often are our benefactors.  They can enrich our lives because they help
reveal to us truths about ourselves, and about life, and about existence, and
about the purpose of life.”

http://www.law.duke.edu/webcast/mp3cast/02272007towey64.mp3

(clip starts at 4:20, ends at 7:01)

As Mr. Towey continued speaking, he may not have been
directly preaching but he certainly was providing a direct witness.  And these Biblical lessons had some resonance
with those who had no Sunday School backgrounds because his testimony revealed deep
truths about investing our talents where they can be most useful.  In so doing, Mr. Towey challenged this crowd
of up-and-coming lawyers to contemplate their careers through a different
paradigm, one in which wealth is valued by how we treat the least of these and
the lonely and the lost among us. 

In today’s society with its trappings of its of all kinds
and its pressures from all sides, it is not easy to seek a life that is truly
good by directing one’s talents towards the right causes rather than pursuing the
good life where one can make the most money. 
But has it ever been easy?  “For I
was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me
something to drink … ‘Whatever you did for one of the least of these my
brethren, you did for me.’” (Excerpts from Matthew 25)   Yet while so many Christians down through
the ages would cite this as one of Scripture’s most powerful clarion calls to break
out of our comfort zones and serve others, the question of what these words
mean for public policy is something we often avoid entirely.  I am not calling for a blurring of church and
state here; like Mr. Towey, I am simply advancing the point that no matter what
your creed, religion, or reason for being, “Where your treasure is, your heart
will be also.”  That’s from Matthew, too,
chapter six.  And it’s a profound
statement on how our private values should guide our public policy.  Budgets are moral documents for two
reasons.  First, it shows us where we are
making our commitments as a society at any given moment.  And then, it also indicates what takes
precedence as a gauge for where we want to go, in an aspirational sense, for
our future priorities too.

 “Talking about God on
the campaign trail might appear faith-friendly, but it is no substitute for
articulating a sound policy position on this critical initiative,” Mr. Towey
argued, beseeching the candidates in this election to make a commitment to the
least of these (and those who serve them on a day-in day-out basis) by making the
right financial and institutional commitments as candidates for president.

The response did not come from a Republican.  Barack Obama – a Democrat, a Christian, and
an advocate for the poor ever since his days as community organizer – he was
the one to answer the call.  “I still
believe it’s a good idea to have a partnership between the White House and
grassroots groups, both faith-based and secular,” he stated.  Senator Obama then described exactly what
this commitment would mean: “But it has to be a real partnership – not a
photo-op. That’s what it will be when I’m President. I’ll establish a new
Council for Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships. The new name will
reflect a new commitment. This Council will not just be another name on the
White House organization chart – it will be a critical part of my
administration.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/01/us/politics/01obama-text.html?_r=1&oref=slogin&pagewanted=all

It is only appropriate that the new organization called the Matthew
25 Network put out its first ad today.  Here is what listeners in swing states across
the nation will be hearing in the weeks to come:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bpNQRp2R9Oo

That certainly sounds good, but with the new Council for
Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships, Senator Obama shows that he wants
his new policy to do more than just that. 
This policy platform involves direct assistance to faith-based
organizations so that “they know the opportunities open to them to build on
their good works.”   He outlined the rest
of his plan by saying that “Too often, faith-based groups – especially smaller
congregations and those that aren’t well connected – don’t know how to apply
for federal dollars, or how to navigate a government website to see what grants
are available, or how to comply with federal laws and regulations. We rely too
much on conferences in Washington,
instead of getting technical assistance to the people who need it on the
ground. What this means is that what’s stopping many faith-based groups from
helping struggling families is simply a lack of knowledge about how the system
works.  Well, that will change when I’m
President. I will empower the nonprofit religious and community groups that do
understand how this process works to train the thousands of groups that don’t.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/01/us/politics/01obama-text.html?_r=1&oref=slogin&pagewanted=all

We have even more reason to believe that Obama’s heart and
his treasure are coming from the same place.  From
both his words and now his deeds, Senator Obama is starting to provide more and
more reasons to trust that he means what he says – and that he will do what he
says.  When this new Council for
Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships starts empowering more to people to
find “the ability to express mercy, to express love, to grow, to go outside of
our comfort zone,” as Jim Towey put it, then not only will it be good sounding
policy, but it will also be good, sound policy that accomplishes a vast amount
of good as well.