Obama breaks my heart for the first time

On February 6th, President Obama signed an executive order establishing the White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships, which is a mild reinvention of the previous administration's Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives. The White House press release on the matter describes the new White House program as "a resource for nonprofits and community organizations, both secular and faith based, looking for ways to make a bigger impact in their communities, learn their obligations under the law, cut through red tape, and make the most of what the federal government has to offer." Blah.

Basically, the program doles out federal money to religious and non-religious groups providing various social services. Anyone with even a passing interest in the separation of church and state should be concerned with the mere existence of such a federal program as it gives taxpayer money to religious organizations. Regardless of how religious organizations are intended to use the funds, the action of giving public money to such groups is constitutionally problematic. Futhermore, Obama's new Office of Faith-Baised and Neighborhood Partnership DOES NOT alter the previous administration's decision that faith-based groups receiving public funds are free to discriminate on a religious basis when hiring employees. This is absolutely contrary to a 2008 speech Obama gave, in which he noted the following (my emphases):

Now, make no mistake, as someone who used to teach constitutional law, I believe deeply in the separation of church and state, but I don't believe this partnership will endanger that idea – so long as we follow a few basic principles. First, 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. Second, federal dollars that go directly to churches, temples, and mosques can only be used on secular programs. And we'll also ensure that taxpayer dollars only go to those programs that actually work.

I am more than saddened Obama's deep belief in the separation of church and state has wandered towards the shallow end.