Obama courts conservatives with new faith program
By JENNIFER LOVEN
Associated Press
July 2, 2008
Page 3 of 3
And while Bush supports allowing all religious groups to make any employment decisions based on faith, Obama proposes allowing religious institutions to hire and fire based on religion only in the non-taxpayer-funded portions of their activities -- consistent with current federal, state and local laws. "That makes perfect sense," he said.
Where there are state or local laws prohibiting hiring choices based on sexual orientation in the federally funded portion of the programs, he said he would support those being applied.
This position would make his proposal "dead on arrival" for many evangelicals and small churches, said Jim Towey, a former head of Bush's faith-based office. That's because telling a small organization to keep employees hired with federal funds separate from others "is unmanageable -- and besides those folks want to hire people who share their vision and mission," Towey said.
Even as Obama courts the right, his support for a signature Bush program could invite protest from others.
"This initiative has been a failure on all counts, and it ought to be shut down, not expanded," said the Rev. Barry W. Lynn, executive director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State.
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Associated Press writer Liz Sidoti contributed to this story from Washington.
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