White House Faith Based Office

So, while I was in Canada, the White House announced the final members of its 25-person faith based and neighborhood council office. Here's the list:

Diane Baillargeon, president and CEO, Seedco, New York City, N.Y.
Anju Bhargava, founder, Asian Indian Women of America, New Jersey
Bishop Charles Blake, presiding bishop, Church of God in Christ, Los Angeles, Calif.
The Reverend Noel Castellanos, CEO, Christian Community Development Association, Chicago, Ill.
The Reverend Peg Chemberlin, president-elect, National Council of Churches, Minneapolis, Minn.
Dr. Arturo Chavez, president and CEO, Mexican American Catholic College, San Antonio, Texas
Fred Davie, senior adviser, Public/Private Ventures, New York City, N.Y.
Nathan Diament, director of public policy, Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of AmericaWashington, D.C.
Pastor Joel C. Hunter, senior pastor, Northland, a Church Distributed, Longwood, Fla.
Harry Knox, director, Religion and Faith Program, Human Rights Campaign, Washington, D.C.
Bishop Vashti M. McKenzie, presiding bishop, 13th Episcopal District, African Methodist Episcopal Church, Knoxville, Tenn.
Dalia Mogahed, executive director, Gallup Center for Muslim Studies, Washington, D.C.
The Reverend Otis Moss Jr., pastor emeritus, Olivet Institutional Baptist Church, Cleveland, Ohio
Dr. Frank S. Page, president emeritus, Southern Baptist Convention, Taylors, S.C.
Eboo S. Patel, founder and executive director, Interfaith Youth Core, Chicago, Ill.
Anthony Picarello, general counsel, United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, Washington, D.C.
Nancy Ratzan, national president, National Council of Jewish Women, Miami, Fla.
Melissa Rogers, director, Wake Forest School of Divinity Center for Religion and Public Affairs, Winston-Salem, N.C.
Rabbi David N. Saperstein, director and counsel, Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, Washington, D.C.
Dr. William J. Shaw, president, National Baptist Convention, USA, Philadelphia, Pa.
Father Larry J. Snyder, president, Catholic Charities USA, Alexandria, Va.
Richard Stearns, president, World Vision, Bellevue, Wash.
Judith N. Vredenburgh, president and CEO, Big Brothers/Big Sisters of America, Philadelphia, Pa.
The Reverend Jim Wallis, president and executive director, Sojourners, Washington, D.C.
Dr. Sharon Watkins, general minister and president, Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)Indianapolis, Ind.

The additional ten people include my friend and colleague, Harry Knox from the Human Rights Campaign, and Nancy Ratzen, whom I do not know but represents the National Council of Jewish Women, a solid supporter of sexual justice issues. That brings the number of people on this committee who stand publicly with the President's public commitments on sexuality issues to perhaps 20 percent. At least seven of these people are publicly anti-choice, and I'm guessing a few more of them probably are more quietly. It's hard to imagine how the Obama administration composed this committee with only one third women, only three of them women clergy. Only two of these people are openly gay.

This would all matter much less if the committee wasn't charged with addressing several sexual justice issues, including reducing unintended pregnancies and teenage pregnancy, and promoting the responsibilities of fatherhood. Yet, only a handful of the people on this list have ever worked on these issues. And it's not because the Obama administration didn't know who to pick from -- I know that several women's organizations provided the names of many women candidates, including women clergy, (yes, including me) to choose from.

Frances Kissling did a wonderful job over at Religion Dispatches addressing what's so wrong with this Council. I encourage you to read it. She said in part:

That leaves a majority of religious leaders on the Council who are likely to lead the nation down a road in which respect for women’s rights will be as absent from their recommendations for government policy and funding as they are in the religious institutions they represent.

For me, and for many feminists, President Obama’s Council on Faith based and Neighborhood Partnerships will be about as respected as President Bush’s Council on Bio-ethics. As with that Advisory group, the majority presence will drown out the minority and in this case, it will not be junk science that prevails but junk religion. I am so sorry that I have to draw this conclusion.

It's hard to imagine how this group -- which ranges from many highly conservative members who are by their own writings anti-choice, anti-gay and opposed to sexuality education, to a handful of people who are progressive on sexual justice in their public commitments, and many who have until now not dealt publicly with these issues -- will reach any meaningful consensus or common ground on how to achieve its stated goals. They surely will have intense discussions, although compromise statements beyond encouraging teens to wait to have intercourse and services for pregnant women and incentives for fathers to be involved seem unlikely.

I suppose I can pray to be surprised.

The new White House Office on Faith Based and Neighborhood Partnerships: Who's Missing at the Table?

I was deep into sermon preparation most of yesterday so I missed the announcement of the new White House Office on Faith Based and Neighborhood Partnerships, including the first 15 members of the advisory committee.


The Office has four priorities, according to the press release, including:

It will be one voice among several in the administration that will look at how we support women and children, address teenage pregnancy, and reduce the need for abortion.

Note that the wording is NOT “abortion reduction” as being reported in the press, but reducing the need for abortion, surely a goal as I have written many times that is common ground. Although I’m not sure why there isn’t a commitment to reduce pregnancies among teenagers rather than it being a topic to be “addressed”, the statement does support the agenda laid out on the White House web site for the new administration:

Supports a Woman's Right to Choose: President Obama understands that abortion is a divisive issue, and respects those who disagree with him. However, he has been a consistent champion of reproductive choice and will make preserving women's rights under Roe v. Wade a priority in his Administration. He opposes any constitutional amendment to overturn the Supreme Court's decision in that case.

Preventing Unintended Pregnancy: President Obama was an original co-sponsor of legislation to expand access to contraception, health information, and preventive services to help reduce unintended pregnancies. Introduced in January 2007, the Prevention First Act will increase funding for family planning and comprehensive sex education that teaches both abstinence and safe sex methods. The Act will also end insurance discrimination against contraception, improve awareness about emergency contraception, and provide compassionate assistance to rape victims.

What’s curious then is that among the fifteen leaders who have been named to the new Advisory Council, only Rabbi David Saperstein from the Union for Reform Judaism is an outspoken supporter of women's reproductive choice, although several of the named persons are vocal anti-choice supporters. Given the President's public commitments and the published White House agenda I note above, the lack of denomination and religious organization leaders who are known to be supporters of these issues and who have expertise working on them is troubling and disappointing. It’s also deeply troubling that only one of the council members is a woman religious leader, that only one third are women, and that none are out gay and lesbian religious or secular leaders.

The last is particularly concerning because the President in establishing the office left in place a Bush executive order that s specifically authorizes religion-based employment discrimination in publicly funded programs, what seems like a reversal of candidate Obama’s strong statement in July: “if you get a federal grant, you can’t use that grant money to proselytize to the people you help and you can’t discriminate against them or against the people you hire on the basis of their religion.”

The good news is that there are still ten openings on the Advisory Committee. On Wednesday, we sent Rev. Joshua DuBois, the new head of the office, a congratulatory letter introducing the work of the Religious Institute and our network of more than 4400 religious leaders committed to sexual justice. I’ll be calling him for a meeting next week. We will be sending the White House a letter with the names of religious leaders who are committed to sexual justice and knowledgeable about reducing teenage pregnancy and unintended pregnancy prevention for their consideration.

I am mindful of the President's call to reach out an open hand, rather than a clenched fist. Although we agree with our colleagues at Americans United and The Interfaith Alliance that we might have preferred to see an end to this program, we are prepared to work with it and the Council to be sure that a progressive religious voice is represented and that its recommendations are consistent with the President's commitments.

Leave a comment and tell us who you would like to see us suggest for consideration for the remaining 10 slots.