Obama picks new round of faith-based advisers

President Obama has named some top U.S. church leaders to an advisory
council on faith-based programs, but the list of appointments is
drawing questions about a lack of representatives from minority faiths.

The
12 names released late on February 4 include top officials of prominent
organizations—from the Episcopal Church to the National Association of
Evangelicals to the United Way. The list includes no prominent Muslim or
Hindu leaders; the White House says the list will be expanded later
with 13 additional names.

Welton Gaddy, a Baptist minister who is
president of the Washington-based Interfaith Alliance, said he was
"shocked" that the initial names for the panel did not include leaders
known outside the Christian and Jewish faiths. "I would think that it
would have been a priority to have had a Muslim leader on there and at
least one representative from the non-Abrahamic traditions," he said.