Let's talk about replacing GWBush in 2004.

Faith Filled or Faithless Charity? There is a Difference.


Jim Towey, the Director of the White House's Office of Faith Based and Community Initiatives, has received criticism for remarks he recently made suggesting that self described pagan organizations are less likely to care for the poor than faith based groups.

While it is true that some atheists and pagans exhibit compassion for the poor and needy, it seems just a matter of common sense that a Christian notion of God inspires charity in ways that surpass a faithless interest in "one's neighbor." There is a difference between the believer and non believer, and it was right for Mr. Towey to recognize this difference.

I have been with Mr. Towey on more than one occasion where his message acknowledges that Christians and faith based organizations are inspired to give aid to the needy in ways that can only be explained by a supernatural perspective of the dignity of each person and the immortality of the soul.

None of us, including public officials, should reduce Christianity to a way of charitable living equivalent to paganism. Mr. Towey was right, and all Christians should feel called to live that difference.

FRC at the White House Today

FRC's Vice President for Government Affairs Connie Mackey and I met at the White House today with Kristen Silverberg, the new Deputy Assistant to the President for Domestic Policy to discuss domestic policy issues that impact America's families. Silverberg has replaced Jay Lefkowitz, with whom we have worked closely on domestic issues.

I look forward to working with her to ensure that the president's policies continue to further the pro-life, pro-family agenda of you, our supporters.

Posted on Sun, Dec. 07, 2003

Editorial | Medical Privacy Rules
An intolerable breach

When the doctor calls these days, she has to leave cryptic messages on your answering machine about those test results. The hospital may not alert your minister if you're banged up in a car accident. And, please, back away from the pharmacy counter while they help that other customer.

Welcome to the hassles of the new world of medical privacy. Such measures are well-intentioned, if clumsy, efforts to stop snooping.

They stem from federal rules enacted in April - rules the Bush administration touted as a giant step for safeguarding personal medical data stored increasingly on computer.

But those same rules are posing a troubling possibility: Are the protections just an illusion?

So then, why are Christians more likely to be charitable than are pagans?

The WSJ notes that President Bush is stepping back from his pledge of lots of foreign aid to fight AIDS and poverty. According to the Journal, the White House is budgeting $2.5 billion next year for the Millennium Challenge Account, an initiative to reward good governance abroad. That's about half what the president promised.

Mr. Bush had his reasons for doing so -- above all to avoid one more foreign policy crisis during an election year. But in avoiding a headache for himself, he demonstrated again how malleable is his commitment to the defense of freedom as a guiding principle of U.S. policy...
It's bad enough that the world's largest dictatorship might consider a nonbinding referendum opposing the use of force to be a provocation justifying war. But for the United States to accept such totalitarian logic is inexcusable.

Yes, that's like proving the Bible is true and factual by quoting the Bible. My sister does this all the time. I cannot explain to her (in a way she understands) why this isn't adequate proof.