"The Hazy Faith-based Future"

Christianity Today reports on what the three remaining presidential candidates have said so far concerning the future of funding for faith-based social services and of questions concerning their autonomy.  Obama seems the most skeptical, McCain the most positive: no surprise I guess.  Obama's comment that "if the federal government starts paying the piper, then they get to call the tune" is (as I've argued here) not a good reason to eliminate the initiative and remove the option to seek funding -- because faith-based organizations also face pressures on their autonomous program decisions if they have to compete with preferentially funded secular providers.  The choice whether to participate in funding should be up to the organization.

One interesting comment in the piece:

Jay Hein, current director of the White House's faith-based office, has sought to make the faith-based initiative permanent by expanding it to the state level. According to the White House, 35 governors and more than 100 mayors now have faith-based offices.

"Outside Washington, this is not a partisan issue," said Doug Koopman, a Calvin College political science professor. "Inside Washington, it's identified with President Bush, who is an outspoken evangelical. That edge to it has never gone away."

Tom