Obama Names Members of New Faith Advisory Council
In launching his new Office of Faith Based and Neighborhood Partnerships this morning, President Obama also unveiled a new committee of outside experts to advise the office, which will be called the President's Advisory Council on Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships. There will be 25 members of the Council, appointed to one-year terms, including these figures (I comment on the standouts below):
Judith N. Vredenburgh, President and Chief Executive Officer, Big Brothers / Big Sisters of AmericaPhiladelphia, PA
Rabbi David N. Saperstein, Director & Counsel, Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, and noted church/state expertWashington, DC
Dr. Frank S. Page, President emeritus, Southern Baptist ConventionTaylors, SC
Father Larry J. Snyder, President, Catholic Charities USAAlexandria, VA
Rev. Otis Moss, Jr., Pastor emeritus, Olivet Institutional Baptist ChurchCleveland, OH
Eboo S. Patel, Founder & Executive Director, Interfaith Youth CorpsChicago, IL
Fred Davie, President, Public / Private Ventures, a secular nonprofit intermediary New York, NY
Dr. William J. Shaw, President, National Baptist Convention, USAPhiladelphia, PA
Melissa Rogers, Director, Wake Forest School of Divinity Center for Religion and Public Affairs and expert on church/state issuesWinston-Salem, NC
Pastor Joel C. Hunter, Senior Pastor, Northland, a Church DistributedLakeland, FL
Dr. Arturo Chavez, Ph.D., President & CEO, Mexican American Cultural CenterSan Antonio, TX
Rev. Jim Wallis, President & Executive Director, SojournersWashington, DC
Bishop Vashti M. McKenzie, Presiding Bishop, 13th Episcopal District, African Methodist Episcopal ChurchKnoxville, TN
Diane Baillargeon, President & CEO, Seedco, a secular national operating intermediaryNew York, NY
Richard Stearns, President, World VisionBellevue, WA
A few of these folks stand out, for various reasons:
World Vision president Richard Stearns recently said that if Obama keeps his campaign pledge to undo President Bush's policy that allows faith-based groups to hire only likeminded believers with federal funds, World Vision would back out of faith-based initiatives. It's still unclear exactly how Obama will handle the hiring question, but it would be odd for Stearns to agree to join a White House advisory committee for a program that his organization will walk away from.
Wake Forest's Melissa Rogers is the coauthor of a recent Brookings Institution report that recommends the Obama administration tighten rules preventing federal funds going to explicitly religious activities and that encourages the administration to study the hiring question more before making a final decision about it.
Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism's David Saperstein was an opponent of Bush's faith-based initiatives office but has been working with the Obama team as it launches its own version.
These three individuals have sharply different views on faith-based initiatives, making it difficult to puzzle out how the White House will handle the sensitive hiring question. Stay tuned.
- Read more by Dan Gilgoff.
- Read more about Barack Obama.
Tags: politics | Barack Obama | religion | Obama administration
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The International Fund for Palestinian and Israeli Peace--Based on the Ireland model
It strikes me that this group may be important to the work of a sustainable solution in Israel/Palestine. Peace-building now requires a rebranding process, with new language, new partners, and new science. Even the word 'conflict resolution' is unsustainable, since conflict is an inherent part of nature, of change and of the human condition. Similarly, there is no separation of church and state in Israel/Palestine. The use of an interfaith/multi faith/non-faith approach is an essential component to changing the climate on the ground. This Presidential Advisory Council utilizes faith based communities as advisors in a process, not necessarily the crafters of a treaty, but advisors in the least. Projects such as the International Fund for Palestinian and Israeli Peace (IFPIP) based on the very successful model of the International Fund for Ireland (IFI) draws on the concept of the multi-lateral approach of preparing the way on the ground, among civil society, within neighborhoods, between and among ordinary people, businesses, and families, not just political leaders. Be in touch if you wish specific information, but its goal is to fund practical connections, between and among civil society in order to truly create a paradigm shift regardless of what may be happening at any given time in the political arena. We call it Track Two Diplomacy in our world, diplomacy by the people and for the people. The Fund is designed to foster practical projects and actionable items which can be measured. It is designed to professionalize the so-called peace process. This is not your mother's hippy peacemaking group sitting around 'preaching to the converted.' It is a global fund which provides the dollars necessary to make a shift in the attitudes on the ground such that if, when, or even regardless of whether there are any political treaties made, the people living in the region are able to know each other through joint projects such as scientific research, joint sports events, and yes even interfaith study and gatherings. Though most Americans are allergic to anything that comes close to including faith or religion, the climate and culture in Israel/Palestine is different. To disregard the faith or beliefs of the so called "other side" only adds to the struggle we have for decades witnessed. Whether a treaty is signed now or in 500 years, the climate on the ground must be ready and able to coexist in some sustainable manner. The International Fund is a project whose goal is to be politically neutral but to finance projects which prepare the way, which till the soil to make a fertile ground ready for a change, which always happens slowly over time, never in one momentous sweep of the pen. Obama's faith-based council is a bold action which acknowledges that people of varying faiths and life philosophies will only ultimately get along when they know each other as human beings. We do not have to agree, we just need to find creative ways to allow the other to exist.
Pastor Shaw-President of National Convention 8yrs complete
Greetings members of the President Obamas Faith Based Initiative advisory council this short memo serves as mt request to join in with new day ministries and the national baptist convention prison ministries to salute President Shaw for 8years of service as President of the national baptist convention This convention will hold its annual convention September 7, thru September 11, 2009 if time permits pleas join us in Memphis Tennesse. usa
Separation of Church and State
This concept never existed when our Founding Father's drafted the Constitution or any of our original official first documents. If a person simply does the research and looks at the documents and minutes of the Continental Congress they would never again say our Founding Fathers intended issues of prayer to God and the bible to be removed from our government. In fact, the bible was not a suggested book students were to read but it was mandated by our Founding Fathers and this tradition continued for over 150 years in the public school system of the United States of America.
Everyone has the right to their opinion in this nation, however an opinion doesn't change truth. Don't be led by the emotions and feelings of those who have not taken the time to read these documents and minutes to learn the truth. Or worse yet, that may have but have an agenda that is not consistent with the wishes of our Founding Fathers. Let your influence for what the Founding Fathers intentions were be from their own words.
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