FAITH STILL HAS THE INITIATIVE:

President Puts Faith in Religion-Based Social Services: Bush favors private aid with a moral dimension at the expense of more traditional programs. (Peter Wallsten and Tom Hamburger, February 8, 2005, LA Times)

In the latest sign of a philosophical change in how the government should deliver social services, President Bush's new budget would cut some traditional aid for the poor in such areas as housing and health coverage.

At the same time, some religion-based programs that promote such goals as sexual abstinence and marriage and provide mentors for at-risk children would enjoy increased federal aid.

Both the shift away from long-standing social welfare policies and the willingness to step up spending on programs tied to religious organizations reflect the fact, analysts said, that the administration is more comfortable than many of its predecessors in advocating social service strategies with a moral dimension.

Administration officials said Monday that the increases — although generally smaller than the cutbacks — would be made in part through payments to faith-based organizations, a hallmark of Bush's self-described "compassion agenda."

An additional $150 million, for example, is proposed next year for programs aimed at treating drug addicts, keeping at-risk boys from joining gangs, and the mentoring of prisoners' children and newly released prisoners, among other items. Much of this money would be directed toward faith-based groups.

Programs for marriage preservation, "responsible fatherhood" and sexual abstinence would get about $280 million more.

Additional tax breaks would encourage personal contributions to charities.

Many of our social pathologies are amply explained by the fact that "more traditional programs" don't have a "moral dimension" (or at least not a positive one, since the absence of morality is a moral dimension).

MORE:
In hands of higher power (Randy Myers, CONTRA COSTA TIMES)

Hot-wired on drugs and fueled by venomous fury, Mel Quintanilla stumbled into the House of Acts five years ago.

Inside the 10-bed facility on a scarred Vallejo street, the addict of 35 years met Miss Hattie. The founder of the House greeted the human mess without an eye twitch of judgment.

"She said to me: 'It's going to be OK. It's all right. I love you.'"

Eighteen months later, he finished the Christian-based alcohol- and substance-abuse program and came out a changed man, a saved man.

President Bush touts programs and transformations like these when discussing his faith-based initiatives, his project to create a "level playing field" for religious groups pursuing federal grants.

After a rough-and-tumble election during which debate over moral values helped extend his term in office, President Bush appears more committed than ever to the nearly four-year-old project he unveiled shortly after his first inauguration.

Posted by Orrin Judd at February 13, 2005 6:39 AM