{"id":81,"date":"2010-10-14T21:06:37","date_gmt":"2010-10-15T01:06:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/community\/philosophicalfragments\/?p=81"},"modified":"2010-10-14T21:06:37","modified_gmt":"2010-10-15T01:06:37","slug":"what-is-the-place-of-a-faith-based-initiatives-office","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/philosophicalfragments\/2010\/10\/14\/what-is-the-place-of-a-faith-based-initiatives-office\/","title":{"rendered":"What is the Place of a "Faith-Based Initiatives" Office?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Mollie Hemingway has an interesting post<\/a> at GetReligion, on the different ways in which the Bush and Obama administrations have used their offices of faith-based initiatives, and the different ways in which the members of the press have responded. \u00a0She comments on how unresponsive the office under (Obama appointee) Joshua DuBois has been to external communications, and I can vouch personally that this is true. \u00a0I am sure that Mr DuBois is a competent and earnest young man, but for an office that is intended to be the connecting node between the administration and faith communities, it is extraordinarily uncommunicative.<\/p>\n

The more important point, however, is that the Bush administration\u2019s faith-based office \u2014 although it took its share of criticism when it directed funds toward Republican districts \u2014 employed the powers at its disposal to foster highly effective public-private partnerships that served the needy and helped prisoners reintegrate into their communities, find jobs, and serve as a force for good in the inner cities. \u00a0I am quite familiar with the Prisoner Reentry Initiative, and it stands out as a sterling example of what can be accomplished when faith-based ministries are permitted to compete on an equal playing field for government grants, and use those resources to accomplish lasting transformation in their communities. \u00a0I do not recall any cases in which the office, during the Bush administration, was employed for policy advocacy.<\/p>\n

The concern is that Obama\u2019s faith-based office has become a political operation that seeks to rally \u201cthe faith community\u201d in support of Obama\u2019s favored policies. \u00a0The administration will say that their recent massive conference call with religious leaders was merely to seek their help in \u201ceducating\u201d their congregants about the changes in health care brought about by Obama\u2019s reform. \u00a0It is debatable whether this is an appropriate use of the office in the first place, but the line becomes exceptionally thin between educating about the benefits of Obamacare, and providing a positive spin in the midst of an election season. \u00a0Having participated in one of these conference calls, prior to the passage of Obama\u2019s reform package, I can tell you that there was no doubt whatsoever that \u201cthe faith community\u201d was receiving a call to arms to fight on behalf of passage.<\/p>\n

This passage from Hemingway may sound partisan, but it has the virtue of being correct:<\/p>\n

Again, I\u2019m absolutely no fan of this office for a million reasons, but the reality of the Bush office \u2014 particularly under its last director \u2014 was all about partnering with faith-based organizations. The first years were about changing the regulations to allow religious groups to compete for government grants, implementing the initiative in cabinet agencies, and helping launch faith-based offices at the state level. They expanded the office to include international aid. And then they focused on helping the religious groups build their capacity, expanding partnerships between the government and the non-profits and trying to think more strategically about how to address some large problem \u2014 such as the recidivism rate in the prison population.<\/p>\n

I happen to oppose all these things and find them a horrible increase in the size and scope of government \u2014 but the way the media covered what that office did bore very little resemblance to what the office actually did. I actually spoke with some people who worked in that office and they told me that they could never get the media interested in their projects such as the Prisoner ReEntry Initiative, a work program that showed a recidivism rate among participants that is half the national average. Or the Access to Recovery program that worked with more than 400 nonprofit partners to provide substance abuse support to 200,000 people. The program showed a higher-than-average reduction in alcohol and drug use. Or the President\u2019s Malaria Initiative, a $1.2 billion program that used faith-based and community organizations to educate African community leaders and mobilize grassroots volunteers.<\/p>\n

If there is anything like this type of program emphasis happening in the current faith-based office, I will eat my shoe. I mean, I don\u2019t think they even have the capacity. Whatever else might be said about Bush\u2019s faith-based office, it was led by policy wonks. DuBois is a campaign operative. I think they\u2019ve basically just made their faith-based initiative office their political outreach arm.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Leading the Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives under President Bush (in the Obama administration it is called the Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships) were men of great influence and experience, like John DiIulio and Jim Towey. \u00a0Even the youngest of the leaders in the Bush administration, Jedd Medefind, was a good deal older than DuBois and more experienced in politics and non-profit organization.<\/p>\n

In a recent interview, not yet published, I asked Jedd whether he felt that his office mixed politics and faith in an unhealthy way:<\/p>\n

I can say with absolute certainty that I always saw my role as seeking to make government efforts to aid the needy more effective by welcoming every willing partner, both faith-based and secular. The primary issue was moving away from big government, bureaucratic response to need, and instead empowering the creativity and compassion of locally-based solutions.<\/p>\n

To the extent that an initiative like this one gets away from that primary focus, there is danger of it becoming overly political. That\u2019s something that frankly could be said for any positive initiative in government; there\u2019s the potential for politicization. But it needs to be watched particularly closely when faith-based organizations are involved.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

<\/strong><\/p>\n

When I asked whether he felt that the Obama administration had overstepped those bounds and become an advocacy office, Jedd did not want to criticize the current administration. \u00a0The only response he offered was this:<\/p>\n

When the Obama administration took power, they signaled that they intended to continue the Bush administration\u2019s focus on effective problem-solving through the faith-based and community initiative. I believe they really meant that, and I would encourage them to keep their focus on problem-solving and carefully avoid wading into advocacy efforts.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I would agree. \u00a0Carefully managed, I believe that such an office can be used to expand the reach and effectiveness of faith-based and secular organizations that are doing extraordinary work to serve the needy in our society. \u00a0When it begins to use churches as instruments of political gain, however, then it would be better if the office did not exist at all. \u00a0I believe that Josh DuBois is a good man, and he genuinely believes that he is serving the good by rallying the faithful behind what he considers to be the worthy and necessary reforms proposed by his boss. \u00a0Greater transparency, however, and greater accountability, could help save him from leaning too far in the advocacy direction.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Mollie Hemingway has an interesting post at GetReligion, on the different ways in which the Bush and Obama administrations have used their offices of faith-based initiatives, and the different ways in which the members of the press have responded. \u00a0She comments on how unresponsive the office under (Obama appointee) Joshua DuBois has been to external […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":30,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-81","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-christians-in-government"],"yoast_head":"\nWhat is the Place of a "Faith-Based Initiatives" Office? - Philosophical Fragments<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Mollie Hemingway has an interesting post at GetReligion, on the different ways in which the Bush and Obama administrations have used their offices of\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/philosophicalfragments\/2010\/10\/14\/what-is-the-place-of-a-faith-based-initiatives-office\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"What is the Place of a "Faith-Based Initiatives" Office? 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