Faith in communities: A solid investment
| Autor: | Amy L. Sherman |
|---|---|
| Rok vydání: | 2003 |
| Předmět: | |
| Zdroj: | Society. 40:19-26 |
| ISSN: | 1936-4725 0147-2011 |
| DOI: | 10.1007/s12115-003-1048-2 |
| Popis: | "FBOs" faithbased organizations are hot. Politicians, religious leaders, and media talking heads have all weighed in on President George W. Bush's ambitious "faithbased initiative." This public discussion is useful, for the faith community has long been a major contributor in the national effort to fight poverty and rejuvenate distressed communities, but its role has frequently been neglected. The issue of the faith community's proper place in public square is not only hot, but controversial. Supporters of the Bush initiative assert that FBOs can do a better job than government agencies in curing some of the nation's social ills, such as drug abuse or teen pregnancy. Citing evidence indicating that FBOs are discriminated against or otherwise hindered by government policies, they are demanding reforms. They assert that FBOs often provide a disproportionate amount of social services, compared to the amount of government funding they garner. New public investment strategies should, in their view, be advanced to address this disparity. Many applaud the "charitable choice" guidelines, new rules attached to four federal social welfare programs since 1996, that seek to protect the religious character of FBOs doing business with government. They desire to see these "faith friendly" guidelines attached to other federal programs that underwrite such activities as housing for the lowincome elderly and education for atrisk youth. Other supporters worry about direct government funding of FBOs through contracts, but in general do favor strategies aimed at directing greater public and private resources to faithbased "outposts of health and healing" (for example, through changes in the tax code). Critics charge that the faithbased initiative is misguided. Some worry that charitable choice breaches the separation of church and state. Others believe publicly funded FBOs should not be allowedas charitable choice permitsto discriminate in their hiring on the basis of religion. Still others contend that congregations and faithbased nonprofits will suffer from excessive government entanglement under charitable choice. Some fear a secularization of FBOs' work on the frontlines if FBOs take government money. Supporters and critics both make valid points. But much of their discussion has been "Beltwaycentric": too focused on the legislative fortunes of the Bush administration's faithbased initiative on Capitol Hill and neglectful of what is actually happening, "on the streets," across America. A look outside of Washington, away from the political discussions, sheds muchneeded light on the issue of faithbased social action. It offers a compelling case for greater investment in "faith in communities" as well as important insights about how to construct governmentfaith collaboration in ways protective of FBOs and fruitful for the disadvantaged citizens they serve. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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