CAL THOMAS COMMENTARY JANUARY 30, 2009
Faith Based Initiative No Longer Has Faith [my title]
I HAVE NEVER BEEN A FAN OF THE SO-CALLED “FAITH-BASED”
INITIATIVE, STARTED BY NOW FORMER PRESIDENT BUSH AND CONTINUING WITH
IMPORTANT CHANGES UNDER BARACK OBAMA.
THE NAME IS BEING CHANGED TO THE COUNCIL FOR FAITH-BASED AND
NEIGHBORHOOD PARTNERSHIPS. SOUNDS SOMETHING LIKE COMMUNITY ORGANIZING,
DOESN’T IT?
THE MAN WHO WILL HEAD IT IS A 26-YEAR-OLD AND CLOSE FRIEND OF THE NEW
PRESIDENT. ANYONE RECEIVING FEDERAL MONEY WILL NOT BE ALLOWED TO SHARE
THEIR FAITH, WHICH OF COURSE IS AT THE HEART OF THE CHANGE PRODUCED IN
THE PEOPLE BEING HELPED. FURTHERMORE, AND THIS IS ALSO IMPORTANT,
ORGANIZATIONS RECEIVING TAX DOLLARS CAN’T DISCRIMINATE AGAINST THE
PEOPLE THEY HIRE, MEANING CHRISTIAN GROUPS CAN’T HIRE ONLY CHRISTIANS.
THIS WILL REDUCE THE FAITH-BASED GROUPS TO THE LEVEL OF THE
SECULAR ORGANIZATIONS WHICH FAIL TO PRODUCE THE RESULTS GOVERNMENT
CLAIMS TO WANT.
FOR CHRISTIAN ORGANIZATIONS, WHICH CAN TESTIFY TO LIFE-CHANGING RESULTS
FROM INTRODUCING PEOPLE TO JESUS CHRIST, TAKING GOVERNMENT MONEY IS A
NO-WIN BARGAIN WITH THE DEVIL. BETTER TO RELY ON GOD, NOT GOVERNMENT,
AND PRAY IN THE MONEY. I’M CAL THOMAS IN WASHINGTON.
The Comment I left on Cal Thomas’s web site:
My name is Fulton Sheen and I am the Director of Isaiah 58:12, a
Faith-Based Disaster Relief Group. We attended the last White House
Conference on Faith-Based Initiatives in Dallas and had a great
experience. Our purpose for going was to make contacts with other groups
from around the nation, which we did, and I hope they may yield fruit in
the future. The central focus of a Christian faith-based group or
ministry is to be a witness for Jesus Christ. It is not the activity of
the ministry which defines it or gives it purpose; it is the faith. If
that focus is removed, then so is the purpose, the motivation and
commitment to perform it.