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Sunday, March 20, 2005

Government's role shapes fight on state's faith-based plan

Pro: Governor's initiative helps build a bridge between government and religious communities

By Rev. Edgar Vann

This past week, with many representatives of Christian, Jewish, and Muslim faiths looking on, Gov. Jennifer Granholm signed an executive order creating the Office of Community and Faith-Based Initiatives. This historic moment launched the building of a more formidable bridge between government and the faith community.

The governor says the state funds programs and creates policies, while the faith community touches and impacts lives. The faith community also touches souls, and usually its touch is so much more effective because it is personal and more lasting.

Government has a priority to protect the vulnerable and shares a sense of "unifying values" to serve "the least among us." This new office will help to facilitate the leveling of the playing field for some of the most result-oriented service providers to compete for funding to help address the significant needs in our state.

The governor should be commended for such an effort. The separation and isolation of religious institutions have only led to stagnation. The pervasive challenges that we face require the use of new and creative delivery systems and new relationships that improve the capacity and strength of anti-poverty efforts. The new reality mandates a change in conversation and a new emerging ethos of collaboration.

This funding does not promote religion, but rather acknowledges that faith-based organizations bring tremendous and unique strengths to the table that cannot and should not be ignored.

Government has not always succeeded by throwing trillions of dollars toward poverty programs and urban renewal initiatives. Experience has taught us that initiatives must be designed to meet measurable outcomes and not just idealistic and bureaucratic objectives. By establishing this office and selecting a competent director and staff, the governor has strengthened the safety net in uncertain times.

There are outstanding national models of community and faith-based programs that work. Boston's "10-point Coalition," working in tandem with law enforcement and juvenile agencies, transformed a violence-ridden, at-risk public housing project into a safe haven and a viable community.

Houston's "Power Center" is an engine for empowerment, making a significant contribution to the economy and stability of that community.

The Meta House in Milwaukee specializes in treating and servicing the needs of women addicted to drugs.

All across America, in spite of separation of church and state arguments and opposition from various places, faith-based efforts work.

As a matter of fact, it's nothing new. Catholic charities and the Salvation Army are examples of longtime beneficiaries of government dollars.

In this new state initiative, government will not lose its identity by collaborating with people and institutions of faith, nor should people and institutions of faith lose their identity as both work cooperatively to meet the needs of people everywhere. With hopelessness rising, uncertainty proliferating, jobs evaporating, families unstable and children underserved, we must have the wisdom to build bridges that unite us instead of walls that divide us.

The Office of Community and Faith Based Initiatives will tap into the unique strengths of these groups. Faith-based groups transmit character-building approaches to address social ills; offer a safe haven; and are the principal community organizers.

The government dollars for these state programs come from taxes that people of faith pay, like anyone else. The governor has said, "This is not about a particular faith. This is about serving the citizens in the most effective way." Well said. Optimize the services. Level the playing field. Strengthen the collaboration. Touch the people, and do the work.

The Rev. Edgar Vann, a News Faith and Policy columnist, is pastor of Second Ebenezer Church in Detroit



Sunday, March 20, 2005

Government's role shapes fight on state's faith-based plan

Con: Government restrictions will eliminate spirituality that makes religious programs work

By Rev. Robert Sirico

Many clergy gathered at a conference in Lansing last week where Gov. Jennifer Granholm announced the creation of a new state office for faith-based programs. One news report had the governor saying state government and religious groups "sing out of the same hymnal" when it comes to caring for the poor and vulnerable.

I'm not sure what hymnal they're using in Lansing, but I know the governor's statement gravely misrepresents the proper role of both church and state. It also misses the essential point about parceling out government funds -- whether the source is the state or federal treasury -- to faith-based organizations.

Governments at all levels have for decades contracted with church-affiliated organizations, such as Lutheran Social Services or Catholic Charities. These organizations go to great lengths to separate their services from their religious mission, and not always in a manner that is beneficial to the poor.

It is contrary to the nature of religious charities to draw a stark line between their faith and their works. Churches and other faith groups assist those in need not because they wish to become an appendage of the state, but because their faith demands it.

Where faith-motivated service sees the person as a living icon of God, the state sees a case number or a client. Faith-based help for the poor and needy often works best when material help has proven a failure. That's because religious groups understand how to address the deepest needs of the spirit. The government is clueless here.

Religious groups that have won government funding have often wound up regretting the red tape and lack of flexibility that comes with receiving taxpayer dollars. One of the sessions at the governor's Lansing conference was titled, "Grants, Contracts and How to Become a Vendor with the State of Michigan." This is very revealing of the bureaucratic mind-set. Is there a church, synagogue or mosque in this state that views its mission as just another vendor of state services? For Christians, who understand the Church as the Body of Christ, this mentality is a disaster.

Granholm has already served notice that, in her faith-based system, churches won't be able to preach the Gospel while delivering services or hire people based on their religious belief. Does the state then reserve the right to dictate to religious groups that they must hire even those who do not share their most fundamental beliefs, or beliefs that are antagonistic to their faith?

That is precisely what has been the issue with faith-based programs since their inception. What the state seems incapable of understanding is that religious groups should be free to make hiring decisions based on their deepest beliefs about God and the human person. Those who want to use the coercive power of the state to restrict the hiring practices of religious groups are in fact the ones seeking to impose an ideological belief on others.

Religious leaders who might be seduced by state funding should also understand the fiscal and political realities. First, faith-based initiatives -- whether federal or state -- do not represent new money. They merely allow religious groups to compete for government funding. The state, by the way, is in a severe funding crisis.

Second, faith-based initiatives are promoted by politicians, not saints. Politicians do things for political ends and expect just compensation for their favors.

Effective private charities focus on human and spiritual, not just material needs. Religious groups would do well by shunning faith-based funding and the state control that comes with it. That way, they can answer obligations of faith with a free conscience.

The Rev. Robert Sirico, a News Faith and Policy columnist, is president of the Acton Institute for the Study of Religion and Liberty in Grand Rapids.