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A Bush-era victory in culture wars: faith-based initiatives March 25 2012

Summary: Under Bush’s administration, they set out to make “the social safety net more religious.” And despite the resent federal spending cuts, faith-based initiatives continue. Bush’s view on church and state sparked a culture war when he came into office. A culture war is a term used to describe the “struggle between two sets of conflicting cultural values.” Looking back at the Bush era, these faith-based initiatives have managed to survive. The initiatives worked “to make it easier for religious groups – particularly small community-based groups – to compete for funding to deliver social services.” Areas that dealt with feeding and drug addiction programs had rules modified so religious groups could qualify for funding. After they received funding, the program was able to “maintain their religious character.” Despite the debate between the Bush administration and activists for separation of church and state, little changed in ways of how people got their social services. The most known program that came out of Bush’s vision was the PEPFAR – the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief. It is a $15 billions dollar relief program that still runs today in Africa to treat AIDS and provide for children. However, though the faith-based initiatives are still in effect, they didn’t gain much momentum. The amount of churches providing social services and receiving government funding is no higher than it was back in 1998.

Explanation: The PEPFAR’s goal is to provide care for 10 million people, and prevent 7 million new infections. So far they have helped 1.2 million people in 2008 in countries known as “focus countries.” These “focus countries,” are mostly located in Africa, while they do help Haiti. While a lot of the committee’s money goes to the focus countries, money is also given to HIV/AIDS research. The committee works closely with the countries leaders, military groups, and faith-based organizations. Like in everything, there are critics of the committee. They feel they are more moral rather than focusing on public health. The PEPFAR makes organizations sign an anti-prostitution pledge and does not fund needle exchange programs. Many are worried about the funding cuts that have occurred under the Obama administration, however, work has still continued in helping reduce the spread of HIV. Along with the PEPFAR, there are services here at home that are still receiving sufficient funding from the government, including the Salvation Army and Lutheran Social Services. The Salvation Army is a Protestant Christian church that is most known for its thrift stores as well as its charity work. It is currently working in over 120 countries and was started back in 1865. It is a non-government organization and is first to arrive with help when disaster strikes. The other organization, Lutheran Social Services, work with almost 300 independent Lutheran health and human services organizations. It is the largest charitable organization in America. It helps over 6 million people. Theyaddress many types of people including the elderly, children, prisoners, special needs, and disaster struck. Many who receive this care are not Lutheran, just as the Salvation Army serves all types of people.

Culture wars in America can be traced back throughout the years between groups of people who disagree on sides. A well-known disagreement is the debate over evolution and God. In biology, it is taught that human kind evolved from a single cell, or the Big Bang, while Christians and other religions believe the world was started because of God. Another religious debate includes gay marriage. Christian morals disagree with the marriage of two people of the same sex, while others feel it is their decision. Yet another hot topic taking America by storm is abortion, whether pro-life or pro-choice. The fight is over whether or not it is right to kill a baby before it really starts developing. People who are pro-life state that a person is a person, no matter how small. In sense, life should not be taken away. While pro-choice, says it is the woman’s choice on what she wants to do with her body. Culture wars have come and gone over the years, but they are always going on. With Bush’s plan, a culture war broke out between the separation of church and state. It is agreed that the church should stay separate from the government; however, it almost always finds its way in.

Relevance: Bush’s plan, while it had good intensions definitely combined church and state. He was taking federal funding and giving to religion based organizations. The reasoning behind this was to make it easier for these organizations to receive funding. Although, in the article it is stated that little changed in how people got their social services. The funding helped the organizations do more to help the people. When reading the article, I wondered why these organizations were given a hard time when trying to get funding in the first place. If they had stated they were non-religious would they get their money faster or more of it? No matter how hard we try to shut it out, the church has always been a part in the government and everything we do. In fact, America was founded on Christianity. We may try to shut out religion but it is still very much there. In school we still say God during the pledge, while not all students may believe in him. In the government, many do not agree with gay marriage because it goes against their religion, yet we are supposed to keep our religious views out of the government. People can’t help but put their religious views into what they do. Religion affects people’s morals and ethics, something that can’t be put off to the side very easily. These organizations should not be judged on religious views. Giving money to a Christian social service group is no different than giving to a regular social service group. Both are aiming for the same goal of helping others. It is shown that religious services often help more people who do not have the same religion. If this is true, shouldn’t religious organizations be treated the same as those who are not?

Questions:

1) What organizations really benefited from the funding? 2) How were religious organizations receiving funding before the Bush administration? 3) What struggles is the PEPFAR facing with funding cuts? 4) How did organizations modify their rules to receive funding? 5) How was funding put in place when it was said to be against church and state?

Sources:

"Culture war - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia." Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Mar. 2012. .

"Lutheran Services in America - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia." Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Mar. 2012. .

MacDonald, Jeffrey. "A Bush-era victory in culture wars: faith-based initiatives - CSMonitor.com." The Christian Science Monitor - CSMonitor.com. N.p., 25 Mar. 2012. Web. 28 Mar. 2012. .

"President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia." Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Mar. 2012. .

"Separation of church and state - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia." Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Mar. 2012. .

"The Cultural War." The Cultural War. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Mar. 2012. .

"The Salvation Army - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia." Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Mar. 2012. <[]>.