The Christian Century

Let a thousand lawsuits bloom. That’s pretty much what John DiIulio Jr. said after being selected to head President Bush’s new Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives. DiIulio cheerfully acknowledged that the government’s plan to encourage partnerships with religious groups raises First Amendment questions.

A recent New Yorker cartoon showed one man sizing up another man in a clerical collar: “I see you’re a member of a faith-based organization.” We’re bound to hear a lot more public conversation about “faith-based organizations” during the presidency of George W. Bush.

Half of U.S. evangelical Christians do not support government funding of faith-based organizations, a survey shows. Newly released data from the Baylor Religion Survey show that 50 percent of evangelicals and 65 percent of the total population think federal funding of religious organizations is inappropriate.