Getting Involved In Government Programs - Secular Volunteers YES, Churches NO

Change We can Believe in...Huh?

The Change We Can Believe In
Might Not Be the Change We Want to See.

Obama's fallen into an Evangelical trap: 45 minutes ago, AP announced that Barack Obama would be seeking to expand Bush's Faith Based Initiative.

(AP) Reaching out to evangelical voters, Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama is announcing plans to expand President Bush's program steering federal social service dollars to religious groups. Obama was unveiling his approach to getting religious charities more involved in government anti-poverty programs during a tour and remarks Tuesday in Zanesville, Ohio, at Eastside Community Ministry, which provides food, clothes, youth ministry and other services. "The challenges we face today ... are simply too big for government to solve alone," Obama was to say, according to a prepared text of his remarks obtained by The Associated Press. "We need all hands on deck."

We need all hands on deck alright, but with proselytizing hands, the right hand may keep secret what the left hand is doing. The faith-based initiative was risky from the start, and it was only by the grace of God (sorry) that Bush was tight-fisted to give the program the money he promised. There are plenty of non-religious, non-profit organizations doing what the government should be doing. And there are a host of people waiting to volunteer their time and efforts who don't need to say, "First tell me Jesus is your personal savior, then you can have your bowl of soup." And who will the bulk of the money go to? Only churches big enough to have a grant proposal writer, a promotion director and a glossy introduction kit. Megachurches will get bigger and small churches may go the way of the Dodo. Question: does Joel Osteen really need more money? And just where is Rod Parsley going to come up with an agency to feed the poor instead of himself? He'd have to agree to some kind of transparency - something many megachurch/televangelists are loathe to do. Something stinks in the Obama campaign.

That's right, brother, you better pray that tomorrow you're not my bitch