Religion in the White House

Ever since the scandal where Obama cut ties with his former pastor, Jeremiah Wright, Obama has been without a home church and now that he is in the White House, he has been consulting religiously with five different pastors, according to this article in NY Times. This article discusses how Obama calls on five varying pastors, none of whom can be particularly classified into the extreme right or left. The positive note discussed in the article said that all of them were very concerned with social justice and economic inequality and using religion as the foundation for the fight against these social issues. The article also discusses the policy of using public money to fund such missions run by churches and other religious institutions.

I thought an interesting point brought up in this article is having religion as the basis for helping those in economic disparity and for addressing social injustices. By consulting with pastors, Obama has tapped into a crucial resource in the country’s need to address these issues. Religious groups often already have the infrastructure and resources to help those in need in their area. However, an issue this brings up is how much the government can help the churches in their quest to help the needy. It seems as though it is quite easy to overstep the boundary of separation of church and state if the government directly funds any church mission but at the same time, in the Zelman v. Simmons-Harris court case, the accommodationist ruling allowed for government vouchers to pay for students to attend parochial schools, thereby addressing the need for quality education, even if the funding merged into what may be considered a religious function.

It is important for Obama to walk carefully where the line between church and state is very thin. The United States obviously can use the help of religious organizations in addressing social injustices throughout the country, but the institutions should also be the ones to encourage their members to support financially and carry out their missions. I support Obama’s decision to consult with religious leaders in order to utilize all of the potential options he has for leading our country, and to maintain his own personal faith, but I do think the government needs to refrain from using public funding to support organizations that limit their mission to only their own religious faith. Government money should not be limited to only certain faiths but instead should be used to benefit and help all Americans.