It appears that I am a bit behind in my political posting... being that it is the Democratic National Convention and I am still considering an interview that happened over a week and half ago. Anyways, I have more thoughts on that that interview.
1) Faith Based Non Profits: This is something that I am interested in because of my graduate experience as well as being involved with these organizations myself. The question was something to the effect of should there be restrictions on these organizations that are getting government money?
I liked McCain's answer... basically, a hands off approach, but to my knowledge, they may be hands off because they give out less money... is that correct?
Obama's answer left a bit to be desired... he said "the devil is the in the details"... but the DETAILS matter and they are there... I understand that government money should not be used to discriminate and we should be careful about that, but I also see that the governmental systems and restrictions can inhibit faith based non profits from becoming effective...
it seems like there is a rock and hard place
Option 1: Take Government $$ and have to follow their rules
Option 2: Don't take Government $$ at all
*With McCain, there may be less govt. $$ available, but if there are fewer taxes on the wealthy, fund raising may increase revenues.
*With Obama, there may be more govt. $$ available, but more restrictions, taxes may be higher so individuals may be less inclined to give.
This seems like a sticky situation.
Thoughts?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
6 comments:
A couple of examples...
I used to work for an organization that had a Christian Mission, but it was a for profit organization. We could not and chose not to discriminate in the job hiring process. My immediate supervisor did not share my passion for the gospel and my job was "Director of Mission Development". I was hired to try to help the organization and people who were a part of it follow Jesus. However, it cost some $ to support my ideas and following Jesus is not easy and is not without controversy.. so, I was not supported from my superiors and often left crying... for the organization to work more effectively I would have had a similar perspective as my boss or she would have trusted me...If we shared the same faith values I think these conversations wouldn't have been as likely to get lost in translation
From this example, it seems pretty important that a faith based non profit would function more effectively when being able to hire individuals who share the same faith perspective
another example,
as jubilee (we aren't a 501c3) but we do operate from a faith based perspective...
we want people from all faiths to be able to participate. But, those individuals may feel uncomfortable because we pray and talk about how following Jesus is our reason for doing this.
it seems to be more uncomfortable for the "outside" perspective; However, the outside perspective is very likely to bring us ideas and strategies that are invaluable and we want and long for...
in this situation, I am all about getting government $$ and crossing faith lines
I loved your summary at the bottom about the difference between McCain and Obama. I'm sure it is a simplification, but I think it points out my biggest problem with voting as a Democrat.
With Republicans (in theory) people are free to choose how their money will be spent (through direct donations) but with Democrats (again, in principal) your money is taken and distributed at the digression government. Given those options, I'd prefer to spend my own money.
careful you two, you'll find yourselves slipping over to my side of the aisle.
seriously though, it is an interesting discussion and issue to think about. it would seem to me that, as a result of separation of church and state, that faith based groups would want to be free of governmental funds. the underlying assumption with that is that those groups would want to "act" based on their faith or restrict membership to people of like beliefs. accepting governmental funds, i think, would preclude them from doing that. so the decision you have to make is whether to accept government funds and operate by their rules or not accept government funds and operate as you choose.
likely a gross over-simplification but...
i have the same understanding as you on the situation Patrick, except that after thinking about my semi-republican judgment call... I considered more...
What if the tax structure that Obama would advocate for would free up more $$ from the middle class? Hasn't his campaign been about including all sorts of people in his process... this may be something else for faith based non profits to think about, how can we include the "little" people in contributions even more?
I agree also that each non profit needs to decide for itself what type of $$ it is going to take, they all will answer to their supporters, it just depends on who they want their supporters to be.
One more thing, if I have to or others have to give the government more of their money, I don't think this should be a cop out towards giving in other areas... especially for Christ followers. We should be even more generous (especially since its all God's anyways)... however, i know people gotta eat and take care of their families, so its not that simple either
traci, take a look at obama's tax plan specifically the payroll tax. he claims that he'll be helping the middle class by offering a tax break but if you look at the payroll tax and its effect then both of these offer a net negative effect. he doesn't make this clear in his commercials but look at payroll taxes and what they do. that being said if you're rich well you're screwed under obama.
the question you have to ask, and matt did this previously, is who do you feel is more capable of spending your money wisely? personally i say me as i'm not beholden to special interest groups and pork barrel projects.
Post a Comment