Group: US Needs to Support Religion

By LAURA MECKLER, Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) - The nation should do more to support religious organizations in their efforts to solve social problems, including more private support and increased technical assistance, a group with wide-ranging perspectives agreed.

The group, which only issued recommendations if all 33 members agreed, sidestepped the most controversial aspects of President Bush (news - web sites)'s ``faith-based'' initiative. In a report released Tuesday, it offered support for those who want to scale back controversial legislation before Congress to include only those provisions that enjoy widespread support.

The 29 recommendations came after seven months of debate within the Working Group on Human Needs and Faith-Based and Community Initiatives. Formed at the height of an intense congressional debate, it was an effort to find consensus across a wide philosophical spectrum.

``Some doubted we could ever agree on anything important on this subject,'' said former Sen. Harris Wofford, who chaired the group. ``We have found important common ground.''

Among the group's recommendations: Congress should approve new tax breaks to encourage charitable giving and religious groups should not discriminate based on race, even if the discrimination is ostensibly based on religious beliefs.

The group took no position on whether religious groups should become eligible for new government programs or whether groups that get government money should be allowed to consider religion or sexual orientation in hiring employees.

Last summer, a divided House passed legislation opening a dozen new programs to religious groups. Democrats objected because, among other things, the bill would allow government money to fund churches and other groups that discriminate in hiring.

The measure has found little support in the Senate, and supporters there and at the White House have scaled back their ambitions, hoping to pass legislation that simply offers new tax breaks for charitable giving and technical support for groups that want to apply for government programs under existing rules.

``We'll do what we can get done,'' said Sen. Rick Santorum (news), R-Pa., the lead supporter in the Senate. ``This (report) moves the ball forward.''

White House spokeswoman Anne Womack agreed. ``This report shows there are areas where there is consensus,'' she said.

It was Santorum who suggested that a consensus-building organization called Search for Common Ground create the working group, and he planned to distribute the report to every member of the Senate. In another bit of common ground, he asked that Wofford - who he defeated in his first race for the Senate - to serve as chairman.

The group included the wide spectrum of thinking on this issue. It included prominent supporters of the initiative, such as the Rev. Floyd Flake of New York. It had opponents from the ideological right, such as Richard Land of the Southern Baptist Convention, and opponents from the left, such as Laura Murphy of the American Civil Liberties Union (news - web sites) and the Rev. Barry Lynn of Americans United for the Separation of Church and State.

``I'm surprised the ACLU stayed at the table to the bitter end,'' Murphy said, noting the deep divisions on certain issues. But she added: ``There's so much the government can do that doesn't raise constitutional questions.''

Other recommendations include:

-Private foundations, individuals, corporations and other philanthropic institutions should significantly increase their support for community-based and religious groups that are working effectively to address poverty and other human needs.

-Government should provide small groups with technical assistance to help them navigate the complex world of government contracts.

-Churches and others interested in working with government should form separate nonprofit corporations to separate the religious part of their work.

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