Executive Order Regarding White House Office of Faith-Based Partnerships Strikes Right Balance

Press Release from The Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism

Executive Order Regarding White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships Strikes Right Balance; Leaves Unresolved Issues

Rabbi Saperstein: "The executive order is a vital step toward strengthening the constitutional foundation of the rules that must be followed by religious and community organizations providing vital social services with government support."

Contact: Eric Harris
202.387.2800 | news@rac.org


WASHINGTON, D.C., November 18, 2010 -- In response to President Obama's Executive Order concerning federally funded partnerships between the government and faith-based and neighborhood organizations, Rabbi David Saperstein, Director of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism and member of the President's Advisory Council on Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships, released the following statement:

We welcome today's executive order pertaining to the work of the White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships. The order is a vital step toward strengthening the constitutional foundation of the rules that must be followed by religious and community organizations providing vital social services with government support.

Since the inception of the program under President Bush, we have made clear our belief that the constitutionally mandated separation of church and state is threatened when the work of government and religious institutions becomes entangled in the absence of clear guidelines. This entanglement poses a particular danger to houses of worship, which may feel pressure to dilute their religious calling to "speak truth to power" in favor of obtaining much needed financial support for the good works they do. But it equally poses dangers to the religious rights of beneficiaries. No participant in a program funded by taxpayer dollars should ever be forced to participate in religious activities in any kind as a condition of receiving government benefits to which they are entitled. Today's executive order greatly expands the rights of beneficiaries to receive benefits in a setting that does not violate their religious conscience, strengthens good government by enhancing the transparency of these grants and partnership programs and protects religious institutions by requiring separation of non-funded religious activities from government-funded secular social service programs (thereby minimizing government supervision, regulation, monitoring and auditing of religious institutions).

We know that this order leaves unresolved some issues put forward by the Advisory Council on Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships as well as the key issue of banning religious hiring discrimination among organizations that require government funds, which must be addressed assertively and quickly. We look forward to continuing to work with the White House to address these issues and ensure that houses of worship maintain their unique character and mission while helping to meet the needs of Americans in communities nationwide.

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The Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism is the Washington office of the Union for Reform Judaism, whose more than 900 congregations across North America encompass 1.5 million Reform Jews, and the Central Conference of American Rabbis, whose membership includes more than 1,800 Reform rabbis. Visit www.rac.org for more.

More:
http://rac.org/Articles/index.cfm?id=21768


See also:


Obama signs order clarifying church-state relationship
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=214x265106

Critics blast Obama on faith-based hiring rules
http://www.newsok.com/critics-blast-obama-on-faith-based-hiring-rules/article/feed/214713


Obama Administration Should Take Action to Fix 'Faith-Based' Initiative, Americans United Tells Congress
Bush-Era Rules That Allow Publicly Funded Religious Charities To Discriminate In Hiring Should Be Overturned, Says AU’s Lynn
http://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2010/11/18-1


Reform Judaism
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Reform Judaism refers to various beliefs, practices and organizations associated with the Reform Jewish movement in North America, the United Kingdom and elsewhere.<1> In general, it maintains that Judaism and Jewish traditions should be modernized and should be compatible with participation in the surrounding culture. Many branches of Reform Judaism hold that Jewish law should be interpreted as a set of general guidelines rather than as a list of restrictions whose literal observance is required of all Jews.<2><3> Similar movements that may also be called "Reform" include the Israeli Progressive Movement and its worldwide counterpart.

More:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reform_Judaism

How in the name of all that real is that constitutional?

:shrug:

It shall hence forth be called the Constipation as your government no longer gives a shit.