The changing face of American compassion: ethnicity, religion, and worldview conflicts

When Barack Obama announced his support for “Faith Based Initiatives” in August 2008 many people were shocked. Others saw it as a political ploy because they regarded the policy as one of the Bush Administration’s more unpopular programmes. In fact, the idea of “Faith Based Initiatives” was first pr...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Author: J. Hexham
Format: Article
Language:Afrikaans
Published: Scriber Editorial Systems 2010-07-01
Series:Koers : Bulletin for Christian Scholarship
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.koersjournal.org.za/index.php/koers/article/view/106
Description
Summary:When Barack Obama announced his support for “Faith Based Initiatives” in August 2008 many people were shocked. Others saw it as a political ploy because they regarded the policy as one of the Bush Administration’s more unpopular programmes. In fact, the idea of “Faith Based Initiatives” was first proposed during the Clinton Presidency with support from such liberals as Senator Joe Liebermann. In this article popular misunderstandings of the role of religion in the USA will be discussed to show that the issue is far more complex than the media and a host of critical authors want us to believe and that the attack on “Faith Based Initiatives” has far-reaching implications for the relationship between Christianity and politics in both America and the rest of the world. It also raises issues about ethnicity, religion and the conflict of worldviews.
ISSN:0023-270X
2304-8557