Comments on: Obama’s faith-based initiative http://www.speedkill.org/2008/07/06/2008/ Radioactive Toy Tue, 06 Apr 2010 01:19:28 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 By: Lina http://www.speedkill.org/2008/07/06/2008/comment-page-1/#comment-473142 Lina Mon, 07 Jul 2008 02:34:46 +0000 http://www.speedkill.org/2008/07/06/2008/#comment-473142 It was a sad day when I came to the realization during one of the many site visits for my social services class that: One, secular groups either can't or just don't have the fundraising/outreach ability and moral impetus for providing social services that religious groups have. And, two, the people receiving those services are already inclined to be religious (after all, most people are) <i>and</i> probably benefit from that religiosity more than the average person. Case in point: AA's 12-step program. Never mind the fact that Obama does need to play up his supposed religiosity more than any other candidate in recent past (not just to win independents but to erase that Muslim rumor). It'd be foolhardy for <i>any</i> candidate to introduce a nuanced, hair-splitting position on this particular argument, since there's currently no good replacement for these service groups. I'm sure in Obama's ideal world, as in mine, the government would be structured and funded so as to provide these benefits, but that's such a theoretical, abstract situation at this point that he has no choice but to embrace faith-based charities. It was a sad day when I came to the realization during one of the many site visits for my social services class that: One, secular groups either can’t or just don’t have the fundraising/outreach ability and moral impetus for providing social services that religious groups have. And, two, the people receiving those services are already inclined to be religious (after all, most people are) and probably benefit from that religiosity more than the average person. Case in point: AA’s 12-step program.

Never mind the fact that Obama does need to play up his supposed religiosity more than any other candidate in recent past (not just to win independents but to erase that Muslim rumor). It’d be foolhardy for any candidate to introduce a nuanced, hair-splitting position on this particular argument, since there’s currently no good replacement for these service groups. I’m sure in Obama’s ideal world, as in mine, the government would be structured and funded so as to provide these benefits, but that’s such a theoretical, abstract situation at this point that he has no choice but to embrace faith-based charities.

]]>