From IRFAlliance.org: Pew Survey Shows Strong Public Support for Faith-Based Services

A public opinion survey conducted by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life has produced some important data regarding public support for faith-based organizations, as covered in this article, which appeared in the IRFAlliance newsletter on November 30th, 2009

Pew Survey Shows Strong Public Support for Faith-Based Services

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The Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life released on November 16th a report on its most recent survey (conducted with the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press) on faith-based organizations and their partnerships with government. 

A large proportion of the public continues to favor government service partnerships with faith-based organizations, including houses of worship--69% now compared to 75% on 2001.  Democratic support has increased over that period from 70% to 77%.  More people believe that religious organizations best serve the needy (37%) than rank non-religious organizations (28%) or government agencies (25%) the highest.  Interestingly, when asked if they had received help from some group, minorities and people with low incomes were more likely than other people to say they had been helped by a religious organization.

The report notes that most people oppose "allowing groups that encourage religious conversion to apply for federal funds to assist the needy."  But the actual question was this:  did the respondent favor or oppose a group applying for government funds to provide social services--if the group was one that "encourage[s] religious conversion as part of the services" it provides.   But of course, except in the small set of government programs that uses vouchers so that individuals have a free choice of provider, evangelization cannot be part of the federally funded services-that's been from the beginning a rule of the faith-based initiative itself.

The report also notes that most people oppose religious hiring by government-funded faith-based organizations (73% of respondents now, compared to 78% in 2001, said that religious groups that use government funds to provide social services should not be allowed "to ONLY hire people who share their religious beliefs").  What to make of this?  Asking the question at all implies that the issue is a matter of popular preference and suggests that religious hiring is a practice initiated by the Bush faith-based initiative.  Instead, the freedom for government-funded faith-based organizations to hire on a religious basis is a matter of law and constitution and the basic rules for the freedom were set before the Bush faith-based initiative. 

And what to make of this?  Respondents gave the following as important reasons why religious organizations ought to be in partnership with government to serve the needy:  the power of religion to change people's lives--59 percent; those providing the services are more caring and compassionate--68%; people needing help should have a variety of choices--78%.  If so, then the public, and the government, should be careful to protect the religious identity and faith-shaped practices of those faith-based groups that agree to help out the government . . . including protecting their freedom to make their own best judgments about which job applicants will best support their mission and services.

For further information:
e-mail: infoIRFAlliance [dot] org
website (under construction): www.IRFAlliance.org
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What is IRFA?

The Institutional Religious Freedom Alliance works to safeguard the religious identity, faith-based standards and practices, and faith-shaped services of faith-based organizations across the range of service sectors and religions, enabling them to make their distinctive and best contributions to the common good.