Percentage of Republicans who believe in evolution is shrinking

[RainDog]

47. I've heard conservative talking heads say the gay marriage issue is lost

And that younger evangelical voters are sick of the culture war attitude of the Republican shills among religious conservatives.

But putting money to work via churches for poverty work - it's a conundrum for me. I recognize that, within the African American community, the church has had a powerful leadership influence in non-violent social change. It has existing infrastructure within communities - but I don't see why a community rather than faith group cannot do these same things.

from your link -

With an eye toward courting evangelical voters, Senator Barack Obama arrived here on Tuesday to present a plan to expand on President Bush’s program of investing federal money in religious-based initiatives that are intended to fight poverty and perform community aid work.

“Now, I know there are some who bristle at the notion that faith has a place in the public square,” Mr. Obama intends to say. “But the fact is, leaders in both parties have recognized the value of a partnership between the White House and faith-based groups.”

He thus embraced the heart of a program, established early in the Bush administration, that critics say blurs the constitutional separation of church and state. Mr. Obama made clear, however, that he would work to ensure that charitable groups receiving government funds be carefully monitored to prevent them from using the money to proselytize and to prevent any religion-based discrimination against potential recipients or employees.

Mr. Obama is also proposing $500 million per year to provide summer learning for 1 million poor children to help close achievement gaps for students. He proposes elevating the program to the “moral center” of his administration, calling it the Council for Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships.

The flip side of this issue, and a problem, is the white flight that came about with desegregation in the past, and the conservative attempt to use vouchers to fund schools that teach things like creationism and try to remove Jefferson's importance from textbooks and pretend that African-Americans were better off when slavery existed. The white protestant mega-churches that create a mostly segregated social life don't do anyone any favors, imo.

Can you support one and not be supporting the other?

The program was created to pay off the political support of the religious right for Republicans.

I have a hard time, because I don't find that it's reality, to claim that faith-based anything is a moral center. I really don't think faith makes anyone more moral and I've seen as many moral people who claim no faith as those who do... so why make this about faith?

To put it in other terms - if the President said... here, I want to give money to this atheist group to fund a summer reading program - how do you think the religious would react to that exclusion?