Obama creates faith-based office with wide mission

[dilloduck]

WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama on Thursday signed an order establishing a White House office of faith-based initiatives with a broader mission than the one overseen by his predecessor, Republican George W. Bush.

Obama said the office would reach out to organizations that provide help "no matter their religious or political beliefs."

Obama is calling his program the Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships.

He said in this time of economic crisis, it was proper for the government to be providing help to Americans.

But no matter how much the government does, "the change that Americans are looking for will not come from government alone."

The president will also appoint Joshua DuBois, a 26-year-old Pentecostal minister who headed religious outreach for Obama's Senate office and later his campaign, to lead the partnership's office and name 25 religious and secular leaders to a new advisory board.

Before signing the measure, Obama told the annual National Prayer Breakfast the program would not show favoritism to any religious group, and would adhere to a strict separation of church and state.

The office is broader than one in the Bush administration that just dealt with faith-based initiatives

Obama creates faith-based office with wide mission - Yahoo! News

Oh goody

 

[Shogun]

jesus fucking christ. When do we get to stop supporting dogma junkies with collective taxes? Faith based programs are worthless. Pandering to a bunch of dogma junkies doesn't solve anything when bush did it and won't solve anything now.

 

[KittenKoder]

jesus fucking christ. When do we get to stop supporting dogma junkies with collective taxes? Faith based programs are worthless. Pandering to a bunch of dogma junkies doesn't solve anything when bush did it and won't solve anything now.

Didn't I mention this before he got elected ... too many times actually. As I said, Obama will do this, and ... surprise ... he did.

 

[Ravi]

Yep, one of the reasons I had trouble voting for Obama.

On the plus side, I understand from one of yesterday's threads that he's declared a war on prayer.

 

[KittenKoder]

Yep, one of the reasons I had trouble voting for Obama.

On the plus side, I understand from one of yesterday's threads that he's declared a war on prayer.

I know, it's freaky.

 

[DiamondDave]

The man is bumbling like a Keystone Cop...

It's like the special ed kids taking control of the school bus

 

[KittenKoder]

The man is bumbling like a Keystone Cop...

It's like the special ed kids taking control of the school bus

I saw and see him still as just another religious nut trying to find a way to force their own ideologies ... he just has a better vocabulary than the last one. (No, not Jr.)

 

[Amanda]

I hope it works out well.

 

[KittenKoder]

Faith based programs have a lower success rate than privately run programs in most areas, in some they are even, and a few they are actually better. But using government money on them will be a huge waste. Yes, many programs in Seattle are faith-based, but only one has a success rate worth spending money on (thankfully our wealthy agree) because the people who run it do not use their religious ideals while running it, and many of them are not even of the same religion. The only reason it's considered faith-based is because it was started and gets a majority of it's funding from a church.

 

[auditor0007]

Yea, faith based organizations do terrible work. They ought to be made illegal. We really ought to get rid of them all. While we're at it, we should probably outlaw religion completely. We all know how this would make for a better world.

I'm just curious; how many atheist organizations contribute to the need of the poor and uneducated in comparison to those that are faith based? I'm trying to think of all the great atheist organizations that were there after Hurricane Katrina helping out as much as they could.

 

[DiamondDave]

Hey.. I'm all for faith based organizations and their offers to help in whatever areas... as long as they are funded thru charitable donations.. not the government

 

[jillian]

Hey.. I'm all for faith based organizations and their offers to help in whatever areas... as long as they are funded thru charitable donations.. not the government

I agree. I have no issues with faith based organizations. They just shouldn't be mixed with our government.

I can't say I'm happy about this. If I wanted this kind of thing, I'd have voted for Sarah Palin.

 

[Shogun]

Yea, faith based organizations do terrible work. They ought to be made illegal. We really ought to get rid of them all. While we're at it, we should probably outlaw religion completely. We all know how this would make for a better world.

I'm just curious; how many atheist organizations contribute to the need of the poor and uneducated in comparison to those that are faith based? I'm trying to think of all the great atheist organizations that were there after Hurricane Katrina helping out as much as they could.

read the first amendment, motherfucker. Hate it or not this nation is not a fucking tit by which you can pad your fucking offering plate. If you want to go do humanitarian work then go for it. I do't recall any scripture that suggests that government financial support is a prerequisite for helping the poor.

and yes, faith based initiatives ARE a fucking failure. Complete and total. Here any good Abstinence Only jokes lately? The bottom line is that the aftermath of Katrina is not some bargaining chip that you dogma junkie motherfuckers can use to suck on a government tit.


and yes, to be honest, the world WOULD be a better place without you cromagnon "worship the campfire" bastards were not around pretending that your stone age mythology more tangible than the failures of throwing money at religious organizations. America doesn't OWE you a goddamn thing just because you are acting like your jesus icon told you to regarding the poor.


fucking dogma junkies.. Next thing you know they'll be insisting that jesus votes republican.. Oh wait.. that happened already.

 

[KittenKoder]

Hey.. I'm all for faith based organizations and their offers to help in whatever areas... as long as they are funded thru charitable donations.. not the government

I agree. I have no issues with faith based organizations. They just shouldn't be mixed with our government.

I can't say I'm happy about this. If I wanted this kind of thing, I'd have voted for Sarah Palin.

Here Here! I agree, as I said, some work, many don't. It depends on who runs it. But those I have been involved with here all get their funding from donations (Gates being the biggest of course).

 

[auditor0007]

Hey.. I'm all for faith based organizations and their offers to help in whatever areas... as long as they are funded thru charitable donations.. not the government

So if we want the government to run similar organizations, we should set up a second organization right next store to the faith based one that is already there and already doing the work. That way they can compete, right? Doesn't this seem like wasting tax payer money to duplicate what is already being done.

When two similar companies are trying to cut costs, many times they merge into one company to reduce overall operational costs. In business, this is usually encouraged, but for charitable organizations, we want to reduce the effect of faith based ones in favor of government operated ones, in this case at a much higher cost?

I'm sorry, but to me, it makes much more sense to spend a smaller amount of tax payer money on the existing organization, the one stiuplation being that moneys doled out are somewhat evenly distributed amongst various faith based organizations, and not just one. I would have a problem if all the money only went to Christian organizations or only to Jewish organizations, or any other single group. However, if it is distributed in a fair manner, than I just don't see the problem. Also, any non-religious groups that provide helpful services to the poor or just to their communities should also be included.

 

[KittenKoder]

Yea, faith based organizations do terrible work. They ought to be made illegal. We really ought to get rid of them all. While we're at it, we should probably outlaw religion completely. We all know how this would make for a better world.

I'm just curious; how many atheist organizations contribute to the need of the poor and uneducated in comparison to those that are faith based? I'm trying to think of all the great atheist organizations that were there after Hurricane Katrina helping out as much as they could.

read the first amendment, motherfucker. Hate it or not this nation is not a fucking tit by which you can pad your fucking offering plate. If you want to go do humanitarian work then go for it. I do't recall any scripture that suggests that government financial support is a prerequisite for helping the poor.

and yes, faith based initiatives ARE a fucking failure. Complete and total. Here any good Abstinence Only jokes lately? The bottom line is that the aftermath of Katrina is not some bargaining chip that you dogma junkie motherfuckers can use to suck on a government tit.


and yes, to be honest, the world WOULD be a better place without you cromagnon "worship the campfire" bastards were not around pretending that your stone age mythology more tangible than the failures of throwing money at religious organizations. America doesn't OWE you a goddamn thing just because you are acting like your jesus icon told you to regarding the poor.


fucking dogma junkies.. Next thing you know they'll be insisting that jesus votes republican.. Oh wait.. that happened already.

Shogun, your stance is accurate but your ideas of none of them working is not. Look up Compass Center :: Welcome , they are the ones that helped me. They were started by the local Lutheran churches and even have a small chapel in the main building. However, AHA (Catholic run) is a complete failure that caters to junkies and those who abuse the system. The difference is that Compass does not discriminate against anyone, but they work with those they are helping, however AHA discriminates against gays, non-christians, and even the disabled. Oddly, they have a ton of junkies who "promise they are trying to be good christians" but wind up wasting our taxes going through the same programs over and over again and in and out of jail. Whether religiously based or not, it's how it's run that makes the big difference. But anything that is connected to any religion directly should never get taxes.

 

[auditor0007]

jesus fucking christ. When do we get to stop supporting dogma junkies with collective taxes? Faith based programs are worthless. Pandering to a bunch of dogma junkies doesn't solve anything when bush did it and won't solve anything now.

Christ only knows how "Meals on Wheels" is just another one of those worthless and wasteful programs you're talking about.

 

[Shogun]

the PERFECT example of the failure of faith based initiatives are catholic adoption agencies who won't adopt to gay couples because of non-public dogma of the organization. The PUBLIC, you know... those of us who are forced to donate tithes via taxes, dont' care that you have a problem with fags. But, for some fucked up reason, you seem to think that it's your fucking religious prerogative to dictate the application of PUBLIC FUNDS.


NEXT.

 

[KittenKoder]

Hey.. I'm all for faith based organizations and their offers to help in whatever areas... as long as they are funded thru charitable donations.. not the government

So if we want the government to run similar organizations, we should set up a second organization right next store to the faith based one that is already there and already doing the work. That way they can compete, right? Doesn't this seem like wasting tax payer money to duplicate what is already being done.

When two similar companies are trying to cut costs, many times they merge into one company to reduce overall operational costs. In business, this is usually encouraged, but for charitable organizations, we want to reduce the effect of faith based ones in favor of government operated ones, in this case at a much higher cost?

I'm sorry, but to me, it makes much more sense to spend a smaller amount of tax payer money on the existing organization, the one stiuplation being that moneys doled out are somewhat evenly distributed amongst various faith based organizations, and not just one. I would have a problem if all the money only went to Christian organizations or only to Jewish organizations, or any other single group. However, if it is distributed in a fair manner, than I just don't see the problem. Also, any non-religious groups that provide helpful services to the poor or just to their communities should also be included.

Okay ... so to you it's a competition of who can help more? Here all the groups work together (or try to, some who just don't get along). There are two right next to each other, because of them being next to each other they actually offer more effective services by splitting the load. Next attempt to look like you've been there ...

 

[Shogun]

jesus fucking christ. When do we get to stop supporting dogma junkies with collective taxes? Faith based programs are worthless. Pandering to a bunch of dogma junkies doesn't solve anything when bush did it and won't solve anything now.

Christ only knows how "Meals on Wheels" is just another one of those worthless and wasteful programs you're talking about.

Indeed, if you want the jesus recognition then go pull your own fucking plow, dogma junkie. It's not the public's job to grease your "do good" wheel. I've given you the best example available of the conflict of interest you want really bad to ignore. Until you can find yourself telling catholic charities to adopt kids to gays then sit down and shut the fuck up, christian.