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The White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives (FBCI) is a department under the Office of the President of the United States established during the presidential administration of George W. Bush. The office was created by Executive Order on January 29, 2001 as one of the key domestic policies of Bush's campaign promise of "compassionate conservatism." The office's director is Jim Towey. Part of compassionate conservatism involves Faith Based Initiatives, which, is the idea that religious organizations can be more effective in managing social programs than the government with government funds.
Controversy
According to Esther KaplanTowey admitted in 2004 that "no direct federal grants from his program had gone to a non-Christian religious group." Other statements by Towey contradict this: "We don't collect data on which groups are Christian, Jewish, etc. and I don't think it would be appropriate to do that."[http://www.whitehouse.gov/ask/20040622.html
Some civil libertarians, theists and non theists have denounced the Faith-Based and Community Initiatives as a violation of the First Amendment's separation of church and state. Citing President Bush being a devout Christian, some opponents have labeled it a de facto Department of Faith.
Richard Stallman has on his website a cartoon where he parodies the concept of a "faith-based initiative" by applying the term to a depiction of an Islamist suicide-bombing of a city bus.
See also
- Samaritan Institute - One of the largest recipients of federal faith-based aid
External links
"White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives"