A liberal group known for its opposition to Christian expression in the public square is critical of Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama's proposed faith-based initiative.
Obama has announced he will create a new "Council for Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships" if he becomes president. The Illinois senator says he "believe[s] deeply in the separation of church and state," but that his program will not endanger that idea. Obama says under his plan, faith-based groups that receive a federal grant will not be allowed to "proselytize" the people they help or hire people based on their religious beliefs. Also, federal dollars that go directly to churches, temples, and mosques can only be used on secular programs. (see video of Obama announcement) Rob Boston is a spokesman for Americans United for Separation of Church and State, which has been highly critical of President Bush's faith-based initiative. "This sort of tweaking of the plan by Senator Obama does present us with some concerns," Boston admits. "In our view, the faith-based initiative is a really flawed concept and it should be scrapped entirely. Obama's talking about an actual expansion of the plan and renaming and changing some of the details -- but it seems to us that the entire concept will still remain intact." The Americans United spokesman says religious organizations should not be asking the government for a "handout" to run their social services. "If a church wants to run a soup kitchen or a homeless shelter or some other type of program, that's great -- and a pastor should ask the congregation to pay for it," states Boston. "It shouldn't ask the Department of Health and Human Services or some other federal agency [for the money to do that]. If the people sitting in the pews really believe strongly in this program, they'll dig deeper and they'll fund it."
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