Politics: Obama using faith-based office to politicize religion

Dan Gilgoff has an excellent article posted to US News & World Report entitled "Obama Has Dramatically Changed Role of Faith-Based Office." He has excerpted the most important part of his findings:

Yet some of the biggest questions surrounding Obama's office when it launched remain unanswered. The administration has not decided whether to allow religious groups to hire only fellow believers with federal funds, a hugely controversial issue. The outside faith advisory council, which will formulate proposals for achieving the office's policy goals—and for combating climate change and reforming the office itself—won't formalize its recommendations until next year. And the office is still devising metrics by which to measure its effectiveness, a subject of much debate during the Bush years.

So, in many ways, the office is a lame duck.

Simultaneously, however, there are more foundational concerns about this office coming to light:

Reinforcing its new policy role, Obama has brought his office under the purview of his Domestic Policy Council, delighting many faith leaders, particularly on the left. "The Bush office was totally disconnected from policy," says Wallis.

Such access has upset some on the left, who say religious leaders shouldn't be shaping government policy, and some on the right, who say the work amounts to politically inspired religious outreach. "We would have gotten killed for doing that," says Jim Towey, who directed Bush's faith-based office and notes that religious outreach in the previous administration was handled by the White House Office of Public Liaison, which reported to Karl Rove. "It looks like a political office now."

Bottom line: under the Bush administration, this office helped faith-based organizations pursue their public work (or "agenda") more effectively. In contrast, under Obama, this office harnesses the resources of these faith-based organizations to carry out Obama's agenda.

That's change I don't like.