Obama and faith based initiatives

I have been reading a lot about Obamas plan to continue the "faith based initiatives" program. With all the polarized information floating around, I decided to get the information right from the Obama campaign.

So, I emailed Obama asking him to clarify his position. I was particularly interested in the way he would handle hiring practices based on religious beliefs by these organizations. The bush administration has let these practices go unpunished, despite the fact that they are unconstitutional.

This is what the Obama campaign sent in reply (verbatim from the email):

"Senator Obama firmly believes in the separation between church and state, and he will abide by a set of principles that will ensure this new initiative honors that constitutional mandate. For example, organizations that apply for new funding from Obama programs will not be able to discriminate on the basis of religion in hiring. In these programs, government funds may only be used for secular programs and initiatives, not for proselytizing or teaching religion."

So, as long as President Obama uses the justice department to rigorously pursue allegations of religious discrimination, I suppose I would be content with this program. But, I would really like Congress to pass legislation allowing or disallowing it.

The office of the President must not be allowed to usurp the checks and balanced provided in the constitution. Andrew Jackson usurped the Supreme Courts power, and it led to the trail of tears. He also usurped the authority of Congress when he redirected federal deposits to individual State banks, and destroyed the Bank of the United States. This and other events led to the panic of 1837.

I also noticed a little remark in this email that gives me a great deal of encouragement:

"Senator Obama believes that we need all hands on deck to help people in need, regardless of their backgrounds or where they live, and that government should work with both secular and faith-based partners to this end. Secular and faith-based organizations each bring unique expertise in providing critical human services, whether that’s keeping veterans off the street, feeding the hungry, or rehabilitating ex-offenders."

My biological mother is an "ex-offender", quite possibly a current offender. I have watched her go through the prison system so many times, and I don't see any real progress in terms of helping her break the cycle.

Granted, she earned her high school diploma in prison. She has been through rehab (forced) more times than I can count. But, when she gets out, she still has the same psychological and social impediments that keep her churning in and out of the system.

My mother is a white woman who struggles with the broken system. I can only imagine how black people are treated in a system that is often racist.

I hope Obama can do something to help the 2 million (plus) incarcerated people in this country. We need real prison reform, and we need to help those who "do their time" to move on with their lives in a productive, law abiding manner.