John Fournelle | Wednesday, 10 June 2009 20:19
Both President George W. Bush and President Barack Obama established offices to bring faith-based organizations and the federal government into beneficial partnerships. Yet their interpretations of the First Amendment and its implications for their offices differ substantively. President Bush's Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives (OFBCI) stressed religious liberty for faith-based groups to receive funding while President Obama's Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships (OFBNP) places a stronger emphasis on the separation of church and state.
President Obama's OFBNP was formally announced shortly after his inauguration, and Obama promoted partnering with communities of faith during his election campaign. During the campaign, Obama said Bush's OFBCI had failed for three reasons: social services for the poor were underfunded; former officials in the OFBCI claimed that their office was partisan; and, a lack of funds and training meant the office ignored smaller organizations. Bush's OFBCI came under repeated criticism for allegedly favoring political supporters' organizations and certain faith groups over others.[i]
Under the leadership of Joshua DuBois, President Obama's OFBNP is to focus on four priorities. The first priority is to involve community groups in both the assurance of economic recovery and to alleviate the burden of poverty. Second, it will address the issues of teen pregnancy and abortions from a community perspective. Third, it will encourage "responsible fatherhood" by supporting families and helping young men stay employed in well-paying jobs. Finally, on an international level, the OFBNP will "work with the National Security Council to foster interfaith dialogue with leaders and scholars around the world."[ii] This last initiative will expand the faith-based office from focusing solely on domestic affairs, but the details of the program have yet to take shape. Members of the new Council for Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships (described below) may contribute to interfaith initiatives. Dr. Chris Seiple, President of the Institute for Global Engagement, hopes the Advisory Council will be able to explore how religious freedom is an "integral part of our security and foreign policy."[iii]
President Obama's OFBNP includes a new Council for Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships comprised of 25 religious and secular leaders who advise the President on faith-based matters. This is a significant addition to the OFBNP, and the Council members come from diverse backgrounds. Dalia Mogahed of the Gallup Center for Muslim Studies and Anju Bhargava of Asian Indian Women in America both represent minorities. Richard Stearns of World Vision, Larry Snyder of Catholic Charities, Judith Vredenburgh of Big Brothers Big Sisters, and Dianne Baillargeon of Seedco represent nonprofit organizations. Jim Wallis of Sojourners and academics such as Melissa Rogers of Wake Forest Divinity School also join the ranks.[iv]
While the Council's role internationally is unclear, they will advise on specific domestic priorities. According to a 2008 campaign document, the Council members will provide valuable expertise based on their own organizations and professional experience. They will advise the OFBNP on four tangible initiatives: to provide training to organizations receiving federal funding so as to use the funding more efficiently, to partner with state and local offices, to conduct performance evaluations, and—most specifically—to "close the summer learning gap" by funding summer learning programs for one-million children.[v]
To establish his Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships, President Obama issued an amendment to President Bush's original executive order that established the Bush OFBCI. Bush's OFBCI order affirmed that faith-based and community organizations are "indispensible" for "poor Americans and distressed neighborhoods." While affirming that these organizations do not fulfill the role of government themselves, the order stated that the government should "welcome them as partners." The goal of these partnerships is "compassionate results," including "curbing crime, conquering addiction, strengthening families and neighborhoods, and overcoming poverty." In order to achieve compassionate results, Bush's executive order said private, charitable, and religious groups should "have the fullest opportunity by law to compete on a level playing field."[vi]
How does President Obama's OFBNP differ from the precedent of President Bush's OFBCI? The OFBNP order places greater emphasis on the role of the federal government instead of the ideals and "oughts" in the Bush OFBCI. It is the federal government that "strengthens the ability" of partner organizations, preserves freedom of religion while "empowering" organizations, and ensures that organizations are held accountable for tax dollars they receive. The OFBNP order does not talk about "compassionate results" as a goal, yet the end results are similar. Examples of results include mentoring and tutoring school children, giving ex-offenders work opportunities, and feeding families.
The most significant difference, however, between President Bush and President Obama's faith-based offices is the Obama OFBNP's emphasis on the separation of church and state. During a February 5, 2009 White House press briefing, one reporter asked why President Obama maintained a faith-based office if he believes in separation of church and state. While affirming that faith-based groups have an important role in providing services, Press Secretary Robert Gibbs noted that President Obama's remarks throughout his campaign emphasized the expectation that these organizations "adhere to constitutional principles such as church and state." A question on the legitimacy of faith-based hiring was addressed, reflecting the widespread concern regarding whether organizations would retain the right to discriminate based on religion during hiring. President Obama's OFBNP plans to establish a process to evaluate cases and legal issues surrounding faith-based hiring, but it has not stated a firm policy on faith-based hiring. The Washington Post said Obama's OFBNP is a departure from Bush's OFBCI, which "allowed faith-based groups to hire only those of their own faith." A task force designed for "reform of the faith-based office" was intended to handle such constitutional issues, but instead the hiring issue has been referred primarily to the administration's legal counsel and the attorney general's office.[vii] Obama's OFBNP has said it will "decide such issues on a case-by-case basis."[viii] Ultimately, as Mr. Gibbs commented in the press briefing, the concern is that faith-based organizations are delivering needed help within "the constitutional principles that the President holds in dear regard."[ix]
Dr. Ira "Chip" Lupu of Georgetown University, an expert on constitutional law, confirms that the key difference between President Bush and President Obama is their view of the constitutionality of the OFBCI and OFBNP respectively. President Bush's order emphasized religious liberty, defined as "the equal freedom of religious organizations to participate in government-financed social service, as well as the freedom to preserve religious character, including through hiring choices,"[x] while President Obama's order specifically mentions the Establishment Clause, free exercise of religion, and equal protection. Dr. Lupu suggests that this "is a significant inclusion," for it "suggests a more constitutionally balanced approach, one mindful of the tensions among constitutional values."[xi]
In conclusion, while the two offices identified similar end goals, the main difference between the OFBCI and the OFBNP is how they plan to reach those goals. The Bush OFBCI and Obama OFBNP interpret the First Amendment differently as they pursue partnerships with faith-based organizations. The first Bill of Rights was crafted carefully so as to ensure religious liberty, but some 230 years later the meaning of that fundamental constitutional right is interpreted in various ways. Two leaders, both with religious convictions and honest motives, look at the same document with slightly different lenses. President Bush saw an opportunity to invite more faith-based organizations into cooperation with government and perhaps, as many critics claim, the opportunity to share the values of certain faith-based groups with those they served. President Obama issues a similar invitation for cooperation, but does so with a stricter interpretation of the First Amendment's separation of church and state. It is not entirely clear how his interpretation will impact sensitive issues like faith-based hiring. In a new era of engagement between faith-based organizations and governmental, the stage is set for new initiatives—and renewed controversies—about religious contributions to public life and the rights of religious liberty.
[i] Barack Obama. "Remarks of Senator Barack Obama." East Side Community Ministry, Zanesville, OH. July 1, 2008.
[ii] White House Office of the Press Secretary. "Obama Announces White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships," February 5, 2009. <http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/AmendmentstoExecutiveOrder13199andEstablishmentofthePresidentsAdvisoryCouncilforFaith-BasedandNeighborhoodPartnerships/> Accessed April 9, 2009.
[iii] Chris Seiple, President, Institute for Global Engagement. E-mail to author, May 8, 2009.
[iv] Michelle Boorstein. "President's Council Gets More Members," Washington Post, April 7, 2009. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/04/06/AR2009040603727.html.
[v]"Partnering with Communities of Faith," www.BarackObama.com. <http://obama.3cdn.net/c2c74198bb57fc007c_e906mvllj.pdf> Accessed April 9, 2009.
[vi] George W. Bush. "Executive Order 13199—Establishment of White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives," Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents 37, no. 5 (February 5, 2001): 235. Academic Search Premier, EBSCOhost. Accessed April 9, 2009.
[vii]Michelle Boorstein. "Religious Hiring Issue Taken Off Agenda." Washington Post, April 20, 2009. <http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/godingovernment/2009/04/religious_hiring_issue_remains_hot_potato.html> Accessed April 21, 2009.
[viii] Jacqueline Salmon, Kimberly Kindy, and Michelle Boorstein. "Obama's Faith-Based Office to Depart from Bush's Precedent," Washington Post, February 5, 2009. Accessed April 9, 2009.
[ix] White House Office of the Press Secretary, "Press Briefing 2/4/09", February 5, 2009. Accessed April 9, 2009.
[x] Ira C. Lupu, F. Elwood and Eleanor Davis Professor of Law, George Washington University. E-mail to author, April 8, 2009.
[xi] Ibid.
