07-02-2008, 04:52 PM
<b>Obama vows $500m in faith-based aid</b>
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->If Obama succeeds in breaking the GOP's grip on those voters, it would upend a calculation that Bush and Karl Rove, his top strategist, used to great effect in 2000 and 2004. But some liberal critics suggested that Obama was outdoing the president himself by building on Bush's faith-based initiatives, which some groups have said <b>come close to violating First Amendment protections separating church and state</b>. Others noted that <b>Obama's proposal does not completely ban faith organizations from discriminatory hiring practices based on religion, even while receiving federal funds</b>.
"I find it a tad worrisome, to be perfectly honest," said Randall Balmer, professor of religious history at Columbia University. While it could pass muster under the Constitution, he said, any proposal combining religion and federal money carries "the potential for a lot of mischief."
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Holy guacamole!! <!--emo&:omg--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/omg.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='omg.gif' /><!--endemo-->
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->If Obama succeeds in breaking the GOP's grip on those voters, it would upend a calculation that Bush and Karl Rove, his top strategist, used to great effect in 2000 and 2004. But some liberal critics suggested that Obama was outdoing the president himself by building on Bush's faith-based initiatives, which some groups have said <b>come close to violating First Amendment protections separating church and state</b>. Others noted that <b>Obama's proposal does not completely ban faith organizations from discriminatory hiring practices based on religion, even while receiving federal funds</b>.
"I find it a tad worrisome, to be perfectly honest," said Randall Balmer, professor of religious history at Columbia University. While it could pass muster under the Constitution, he said, any proposal combining religion and federal money carries "the potential for a lot of mischief."
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Holy guacamole!! <!--emo&:omg--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/omg.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='omg.gif' /><!--endemo-->