Passage of the “Charitable Choice” provisions of welfare reform in 1996, and the more recent publicity surrounding President Bush’s “Faith Based Initiative” have focused renewed public attention on the delicate relationship between church and state, and between politics and religion.
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Government Shekels without Government Shackles
Although governmental partnerships with religious organizations and their affiliates has been a feature of the social service landscape for decades, Charitable Choice has been attacked from Left and Right alike.
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Snake Oil, Professional Ethics and the First Amendment
When evidence has rebutted a medical or scientific thesis, it is not only unethical, but arguably fraudulent and thus unprotected by the First Amendment, to present that thesis as if it were untested or supported. Assigning a high value to the free exchange of ideas is not tantamount to valuing all ideas equally
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Privatization and Prayer: The Case of Charitable Choice
In 1996, as part of comprehensive welfare reform legislation, Congress enacted Section 104 of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (PWORA). That provision, which has subsequently come to be known as “Charitable Choice” was the first of a number of initiatives which have been heralded as a new approach to delivery of government social services: state contracts with “faith-based organizations,” or FBOs.
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A Just World at Peace
The tension between peace and justice is an enduring one in human history. The goal of civilized societies is to achieve a just peace; that is, to create institutions that allow citizens to settle even their deepest differences without violence or the disenfranchisement of dissenting voices.
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