Obama detailing plan to partner with faith-based groups and others..

[Reddogs]

Now this is very interesting as it looks like he will suport faith-based groups...

"....Obama focuses on religion...Obama detailing plan to partner with faith-based and secular grass-roots groups

Sen. Barack Obama set to focus on faith, religion in Ohio

Meanwhile, a day after defending his patriotism, Obama is focusing on faith and religion in Zanesville, Ohio.

According to Obama's campaign, the senator from Illinois will lay out his plan to expand Bush's faith-based programs and establish a new Council for Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships.

The council will strengthen nonprofit religious and community groups by providing funding and making it easier to "access to the information and support they need to run that program," according to prepared remarks his campaign released.

"I'm not saying that faith-based groups are an alternative to government or secular nonprofits. And I'm not saying that they're somehow better at lifting people up. What I'm saying is that we all have to work together -- Christian and Jew, Hindu and Muslim, believer and nonbeliever alike -- to meet the challenges of the 21st century," Obama will say, according to the remarks.

Obama will say that the relationship between the White House and grass-roots groups "has to be a real partnership -- not a photo-op," while reiterating his belief in the separation of church and state.

Under Obama's proposal, groups accepting federal grant money cannot use the funds "to proselytize to the people you help" and employees cannot be hired or fired on the basis of religion.

Additionally, federal dollars going to places of worship can only be used on secular programs.

"And we'll also ensure that taxpayer dollars only go to those programs that actually work," Obama will say, according to the prepared remarks....."

http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/07/01/campaign.wrap/index.html

[Reddogs]

It looks like Obama after knocking out Hillary, is going after the conservative vote.....

"....Taking a page from President Bush, Democrat Barack Obama said Tuesday he wants to expand White House efforts to steer social service dollars to religious groups, risking protests in his own party with his latest aggressive reach for voters who usually vote Republican.

Obama contended he is merely stating long-held positions — surprising to some, he said, after a primary campaign in which he was "tagged as being on the left."

In recent days, with the Democratic nomination in hand and the general election battle with Republican John McCain ahead, Obama has been sounding centrist themes with comments on guns, government surveillance and capital punishment. He's even quoted Ronald Reagan.

On Tuesday, touring Presbyterian Church-based social services facility, the Democratic senator said he would get religious charities more involved in government anti-poverty efforts if elected.........

He said the connection of religion and public service was nothing new in his personal life.

Obama showed he was comfortable using the kind of language that is familiar in evangelical churches and Bible studies by calling his faith "a personal commitment to Christ." He said that his time as a community organizer in decimated Chicago neighborhoods, supported in part by a Catholic group, brought him to a deeper faith and also convinced him that faith is useless without works.

"While I could sit in church and pray all I want, I wouldn't be fulfilling God's will unless I went out and did the Lord's work," he declared.....

With 80 percent of Americans saying they identify themselves with some religion, Obama's campaign has struggled with the topic.

Comments critical of America by Obama's longtime pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, caused a firestorm during the primaries and brought Obama's brand of faith under scrutiny because of Wright's adherence to black liberation theology. Obama also has battled false but persistent rumors that he is a Muslim; they have been kept alive on the Internet despite his repeated talk about his longtime devotion to Christianity.

Conservative Christians make up about a quarter of the electorate, and they helped put Bush in office twice. Many still are likely to oppose the Democratic nominee because of his support for abortion rights, gay rights and other issues.

An AP-Yahoo News poll in June found that people who attend church at least once a week support Republican McCain over Obama, 49 percent to 37 percent. Those who attend church less often tend to favor Obama. White evangelical Christians who attend church weekly favor McCain by huge margins....

Obama's high-profile embrace of a key theme of Bush's time in office — the "faith-based initiative" — is just the latest example of him trying to show his centrist side..."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080702/ap_on_el_pr/obama_faith