faithPersonally, I am troubled by this, I think the government should not be involved in any faith based or religious based anything , period. Another point here is that it would be nice to see charity organizations that are pagan, or alternative based get involved more in the world. I know that neopagan is a fairly new religion , but I think that it is now in their best interests to start getting more involved in helping their communities, I know alot of them give to other charities that are already functioning in the field , and so their acts of charity goes unnoticed by the mainstream, maybe if they organized their own charity organizations, it would change their image from being so self centered and only concerned about 'I' instead of 'others'. And another point , what in earth is Obama doing? This is why politics stinks in my book because really they are all the same,but different :),in reality.
blessings
Obama Discusses Expansion of Faith-Based Initiatives
Wednesday July 2, 2008
In what's most likely an effort to court the evangelical vote in the upcoming presidential election, candidate Barack Obama told an audience the other day that he hopes to revamp the Faith-Based Initiative program instituted by the Bush administration. In a speech in Zanesville, Ohio, Obama proposed working to make sure that any charity receiving government funding be monitored, ostensibly to keep them from prosetylizing to those who would benefit in their programs, and "to prevent any religion-based discrimination against potential recipients or employees".
While I'm somewhat disappointed to hear him even discuss this -- because I don't think the government has any business getting involved in faith-based anything -- there's a part of me that wonders if maybe restructuring the existing system isn't such a bad idea after all. Obviously, faith-based charities are here to stay, so maybe if they were more strictly regulated, people wouldn't find themselves at the receiving end of a "no food until you hear a sermon" situation.
I've also heard people complain with this logic: "Would a Wiccan charity be embraced as much as a Christian or Catholic charity is?" Well, my response to that is "Start one up and find out." If a Wiccan or Pagan group can present themselves with the level of organization and forethought that some of the charities run by mainstream religious groups have, then by all means, give it a shot.
What do you guys think? Should the government do away with faith-based initiatives completely, or regulate the system so that it's fair for everyone who might be receiving the benefits of those charities?
While I'm somewhat disappointed to hear him even discuss this -- because I don't think the government has any business getting involved in faith-based anything -- there's a part of me that wonders if maybe restructuring the existing system isn't such a bad idea after all. Obviously, faith-based charities are here to stay, so maybe if they were more strictly regulated, people wouldn't find themselves at the receiving end of a "no food until you hear a sermon" situation.
I've also heard people complain with this logic: "Would a Wiccan charity be embraced as much as a Christian or Catholic charity is?" Well, my response to that is "Start one up and find out." If a Wiccan or Pagan group can present themselves with the level of organization and forethought that some of the charities run by mainstream religious groups have, then by all means, give it a shot.
What do you guys think? Should the government do away with faith-based initiatives completely, or regulate the system so that it's fair for everyone who might be receiving the benefits of those charities?
