The White House God Squad
Two months after announcing the Advisory Council on Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships, the White House released the full list of council members just a few hours before they meet for the first time this evening. The full list is below the jump, but just a few initial observations:
* Only two of the 25 council members come from secular organizations (Fred Davie's Public/Private Ventures is a secular non-profit, but he is very much rooted in the faith world). That is likely to raise eyebrows among critics of the faith-based initiative and questions about whether the "and" in the council's title is just for show.
* Former Indianapolis coach Tony Dungy's name is not on the list. Dungy's invitation to join the council had been leaked last week and generated an immediate outcry among liberal groups like People for the American Way because of his support for an anti-gay marriage initiative in Indiana. A White House source tells David Brody that Dungy just couldn't make all of the meetings. Believe that? Me neither.
* With Dungy off the council, it definitely skews left. There are some notable exceptions, including Frank Page of the Southern Baptist Convention and Anthony Picarello of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.
* The council has a wider range of religious diversity than we saw at faith gatherings during the Bush years, and there are more conservatives in the fold than Bush had liberals.
Each member of the Council is appointed to a one-year term. The members of the Council are:
Diane Baillargeon, President & CEO, Seedco
*Anju Bhargava, Founder, Asian Indian Women of America
*Bishop Charles Blake, Presiding Bishop, Church of God in Christ
Noel Castellanos, CEO, Christian Community Development Association
*The Rev. Peg Chemberlin, President-Elect, National Council of Churches USA
Dr. Arturo Chavez, President & CEO, Mexican American Catholic College
Fred Davie, Senior Adviser, Public/Private Ventures
*Nathan Diament, Director of Public Policy, Orthodox Jewish Union
Pastor Joel C. Hunter, Senior Pastor, Northland, a Church Distributed
*Harry Knox, Director, Religion and Faith Program, Human Rights Campaign
Bishop Vashti M. McKenzie, Presiding Bishop, 13th Episcopal District, African Methodist Episcopal Church
*Dalia Mogahed, Executive Director, Gallup Center for Muslim Studies
Rev. Otis Moss, Jr., Pastor emeritus, Olivet Institutional Baptist Church
Dr. Frank S. Page, President emeritus, Southern Baptist Convention
Eboo S. Patel, Founder & Executive Director, Interfaith Youth Core
*Anthony Picarello, General Counsel , United States Conference of Catholic Bishops
*Nancy Ratzan, Board Chair, National Council of Jewish Women
Melissa Rogers, Director, Wake Forest School of Divinity Center for Religion and Public Affairs
Rabbi David N. Saperstein, Director & Counsel, Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism
Dr. William J. Shaw, President, National Baptist Convention, USA
Father Larry J. Snyder, President, Catholic Charities USA
Richard Stearns, President, World Vision
Judith N. Vredenburgh, President and Chief Executive Officer, Big Brothers / Big Sisters of America
Rev. Jim Wallis, President & Executive Director, Sojourners
*Dr. Sharon Watkins, General Minister and President, Disciples of Christ (Christian Church)
NOTE: Members marked with an asterisk were announced today. The White House Office for Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships will be 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. Other members of the Advisory Council were announced earlier this year.
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1
Amy:
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How do you reconcile these two statements?
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1. "With Dungy off the council, it definitely skews left. There are some notable exceptions, including Frank Page of the Southern Baptist Convention and Anthony Picarello of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops."
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2. "The council has a wider range of religious diversity than we saw at faith gatherings during the Bush years, and there are more conservatives in the fold than Bush had liberals." -
2
Amy:
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I think the underrepresentation of secular organizations might also be that not many survived the years of Bush focusing on faith-based efforts to their exclusion. -
3
No one cares about this crap but you, Amy.
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I hate to be a jerk but you really are an embarrassment bordering on self-parody.
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4
Hmm. Let Rick Warren deliver an invocation but cave on keeping Dungy on an advisory group? I doubt that was the case.
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5
"God Squad"?
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Amy, would you go away now? Just. Go. Away. -
6
This Faith council is unfairly composed of chronoligical adults. For proper representation, it should be a few 5 year olds, and representatives of Santa, the Easter Bunny, and the Toothfairey.
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7
And what 53_3 said. You really are a self-regarding, lazy a$$hat, Amy Sullivan. "Trending liberal"? Compared to what? The other voices in your head?
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Jesus loves you, but you have just ground off my last nerve. -
8
Friar Tuck: Remind me to never ask you for your honest opinion. I'm afraid you'd give it.
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9
I would. It's why they won't let me near an actual pulpit. Preaching the raw truth is a capital offense anywhere in the Solar System.
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10
It might be a good thing that AS doesn't interact with us. The first time that she dropped the F-Bomb on you I'd have coffee flying out of my nose. I've posted several times and they're disappearing into the netherworld. I'm starting to think that the High Sheriffs took Ike's advice and had me confined to the virtual nuthouse.
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11
Looks a bit left of center, maybe, with more diversity than most "interfaith" groups. I don't see how it can be said to "skew left" with no representation from the American Ethical Union, the American Society of Friends (Quakers), Reconstructionist Judaism, United Church of Christ, or the Unitarian Universalist Association. How does this list cross-tab with the Network for Spiritual Progressives? I'd check myself, but you are getting the big bucks for reporting...
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12
I hear that didn't didn't work out well for that Jesus guy, FT, either.
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13
joyo
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Your forgetting that the spectrum stops on the left at the New Republic -
14
representation from the.....
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Perhaps some of those organizations took the admonition to "Render Unto Ceasar" seriously and are uninterested in feeding at the Federal trough..... -
15
my bad -- must have forgotten my Special Glasses.
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16
Paul Dirks, that would be actually more interesting than a list of names. Think we'll ever get to read THAT article?
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17
jayack, you have absolutely made my day . . . and I managed to laugh out loud without ruining another keyboard, so I got a two-fer!
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18
David Shuster is guest hosting Hardball. MIght want to watch this segment on wingnuts
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19
I swear I like David Shuster more everyday. He is calling out the wing nuts by name and calling out their dangerous rhetoric.
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Supposedly, its Obama's fault that the right wing are using such dangerous rhetoric. -
20
I am glad it made you laugh FT. It was my intent. But it also makes me sad. Wasn't it Gandhi who said the liked the Christ guy just fine, but those Christians, not so much.
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21
These poll results seemed made for a post by Amy. Perhaps not her point of view? Or, maybe I'm rushing her.
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http://theplumline.whorunsgov.com/president-obama/poll-white-evangelicals-trust-obama-to-get-it-right-with-muslim-world/ -
22
Dee:
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"Supposedly, its Obama's fault that the right wing are using such dangerous rhetoric."
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– using the same rationale, FDR was responsible for the Holocaust.
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And I know, i know … I'm burning through my Godwin quota pretty quickly these days. -
23
it also makes me sad. Wasn't it Gandhi who said the liked the Christ guy just fine, but those Christians, not so much
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It makes me sad, too, jayack. Throughout its history, Christianity has had faithful people who want to follow the way of Christ, not the way of enrichment at the public's expense under the guise of "serving" Christ. They never get the upper hand, except locally and temporarily, but they keep coming. As Dietrich Bonhoeffer said, "Still we try." -
24
Yeah FT. It's interesting that a committed atheist like me shares values with a committed Christian.
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A really committed Christian,that is. -
25
What, no Joel Osteen or Joyce Meyer? What about Rory Alec from God TV?
What about the Tony Campolo???
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