Posted on 04/06/2009 1:57:17 PM PDT by STARWISE
President Barack Obama is filling out his advisory council on faith-based groups without appointing a well-known football coach, who was reportedly invited to the join the panel but drew fire from liberal groups for his opposition to gay marriage.
On Monday, the White House said Obama named a diverse group of nine Americans to join the 16 designated when the board to advise his Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships Initiative was announced two months ago.
However, former Indianapolis Colts coach Tony Dungy is not on the list the White House distributed Monday.
Dungy’s potential appointment drew flak from liberal groups such as People for the American Way and Americans United for Separation of Church and State, who said Dungy’s vocal opposition to gay marriage made him an inappropriate choice for the panel.
“The Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships council shouldn't be used to reward voices of intolerance like Tony Dungy,” PFAW’s director of public policy, Tanya Clay House, had said in an earlier statement.
“It is extremely important for the advisory council to uphold civil rights and civil liberties and I am concerned that Coach Dungy is far from the best person to do that,” Rev. Barry Lynn, the executive director of Americans United, said.
Both groups pointed to Dungy’s endorsement of a gay marriage ban in Indiana and his involvement with a conservative public policy group, the Indiana Family Institute.
An aide to Dungy did not immediately respond to an e-mail seeking comment for this article. The White House also had no immediate explanation for the ex-coach’s absence.
The new appointees to the board include Anju Bhargava, founder of the Asian Indian Women of America; Bishop Charles Blake of the Los Angeles-based Church of God in Christ, Rev. Peg Chemberlin, president-elect of the National Council of Churches; Nathan Diament, director of public policy for the Orthodox Union, a Jewish denomination; Harry Knox, director of the Religion and Faith program at the Human Rights Campaign, which advocates for equal rights for gays and lesbians; Dalia Mogahed, author and executive director of the Gallup Center for Muslim Studies; Anthony Picarello, general counsel of the U.S. Council of Catholic Bishops; Nancy Ratzan, board chair of the National Council of Jewish Women; and Sharon Watkins, general minister and president of the Disciples of Christ.
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Exclusive: Former NFL Coach Tony Dungy Invited to Join White House Faith Council
~~PING!
I guess they had a difference of opinion - apparently Tony doesnt think the world owes him something and doesnt have his hand out
Well, Dungy voted for the guy (I know, it shocked me too). Perhaps Dungy wasn’t the man Obama thought he was - let’s hope.
Plus he paid his taxes.
The Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships council shouldn’t be used to reward voices of intolerance like Tony Dungy,” PFAW’s director of public policy, Tanya Clay House, had said in an earlier statement.
“It is extremely important for the advisory council to uphold civil rights and civil liberties and I am concerned that Coach Dungy is far from the best person to do that,” Rev. Barry Lynn, the executive director of Americans United, said.
Both groups pointed to Dungy’s endorsement of a gay marriage ban in Indiana and his involvement with a conservative public policy group, the Indiana Family Institute.
So its okay for these assclowns to be intolerant of Christians and Family but not okay for a Christian to be allowed to follow their faith or to families to work towards keeping family important in oursociety
What a group, huh ?
~~~~~~
Anju Bhargava, founder of the Asian Indian Women of America; Bishop Charles Blake of the Los Angeles-based Church of God in Christ, Rev. Peg Chemberlin, president-elect of the National Council of Churches; Nathan Diament, director of public policy for the Orthodox Union, a Jewish denomination;
Harry Knox, director of the Religion and Faith program at the Human Rights Campaign, which advocates for equal rights for gays and lesbians; Dalia Mogahed, author and executive director of the Gallup Center for Muslim Studies;
Anthony Picarello, general counsel of the U.S. Council of Catholic Bishops; Nancy Ratzan, board chair of the National Council of Jewish Women; and Sharon Watkins, general minister and president of the Disciples of Christ.
They wouldn’t make an offer to Dungy if he wasn’t going to accept. I’m betting this means that Tony Dungy was reluctant.
As Scripture says, light and darkness have nothing in common and cannot coexist.
Don't look for or expect Barack Obama or anyone in his orbit to knowingly or willingly have any association with anybody who knows Christ and makes no secret of it.
Do they really believe that this guy is going to advocate gay marriage? The USCCB is mighty liberal, but not out for gay marriage (yet.)
From the listed organizations, I'd say only the Catholic has even a chance (probably 50-50) of representing traditional Judeo-Christian morality.
Muslims can be represented, but no groups that oppose gay "marriage."
I thought even Obama was supposed to be against gay marriage.
So excluding Christians who believe in the Bible is 'diverse'. Sometimes I think liberals are in some alternate universe where all words mean the exact opposite.
He changed group he announced in February, and they don’t total 25, as this article mentions. So some are secret or the group # has been altered.
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Thursday, February 5th, 2009 at 12:00 am
Obama Announces White House Office of Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships
THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
_________________________________________________________________
For Immediate Release
February 5, 2009
Obama Announces White House Office of Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships
Washington (February 5, 2009) – President Barack Obama today signed an executive order establishing the new White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships. The White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships will work on behalf of Americans committed to improving their communities, no matter their religious or political beliefs.
“Over the past few days and weeks, there has been much talk about what our government’s role should be during this period of economic emergency. That is as it should be – because there is much that government can and must do to help people in need,” said President Obama.
“But no matter how much money we invest or how sensibly we design our policies, the change that Americans are looking for will not come from government alone. There is a force for good greater than government. It is an expression of faith, this yearning to give back, this hungering for a purpose larger than our own, that reveals itself not simply in places of worship, but in senior centers and shelters, schools and hospitals, and any place an American decides.”
The White House Office for Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships will be a resource for nonprofits and community organizations, both secular and faith based, looking for ways to make a bigger impact in their communities, learn their obligations under the law, cut through red tape, and make the most of what the federal government has to offer.
President Obama appointed Joshua DuBois, a former associate pastor and advisor to the President in his U.S. Senate office and campaign Director of Religious Affairs, to lead this office.
“Joshua understands the issues at stake, knows the people involved, and will be able to bring everyone together – from both the secular and faith-based communities, from academia and politics – around our common goals,” said President Obama.
The Office of Faith Based and Neighborhood Partnerships will focus on four key priorities, to be carried out by working closely with the President’s Cabinet Secretaries and each of the eleven agency offices for faith-based and neighborhood partnerships:
* The Office’s top priority will be making community groups an integral part of our economic recovery and poverty a burden fewer have to bear when recovery is complete.
* It will be one voice among several in the administration that will look at how we support women and children, address teenage pregnancy, and reduce the need for abortion.
* The Office will strive to support fathers who stand by their families, which involves working to get young men off the streets and into well-paying jobs, and encouraging responsible fatherhood.
* Finally, beyond American shores this Office will work with the National Security Council to foster interfaith dialogue with leaders and scholars around the world.
As the priorities of this Office are carried out, it will be done in a way that upholds the Constitution – by ensuring that both existing programs and new proposals are consistent with American laws and values.
The separation of church and state is a principle President Obama supports firmly – not only because it protects our democracy, but also because it protects the plurality of America’s religious and civic life.
The Executive Order President Obama will sign today strengthens this by adding a new mechanism for the Executive Director of the Office to work through the White House Counsel to seek the advice of the Attorney General on difficult legal and constitutional issues.
The Office of Faith Based and Neighborhood Partnerships will include a new President’s Advisory Council on Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships, composed of religious and secular leaders and scholars from different backgrounds.
There will be 25 members of the Council, appointed to 1-year terms.
Members of the Council include:
***
Judith N. Vredenburgh, President and Chief Executive Officer, Big Brothers / Big Sisters of America
Philadelphia, PA
Rabbi David N. Saperstein, Director & Counsel, Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, and noted church/state expert
Washington, DC
Dr. Frank S. Page, President emeritus, Southern Baptist Convention
Taylors, SC
Father Larry J. Snyder, President, Catholic Charities USA
Alexandria, VA
Rev. Otis Moss, Jr., Pastor emeritus, Olivet Institutional Baptist Church
Cleveland, OH
Eboo S. Patel, Founder & Executive Director, Interfaith Youth Corps
Chicago, IL
Fred Davie, President, Public / Private Ventures, a secular non-profit intermediary
New York, NY
Dr. William J. Shaw, President, National Baptist Convention, USA
Philadelphia, PA
Melissa Rogers, Director, Wake Forest School of Divinity Center for Religion and Public Affairs and expert on church/state issues
Winston-Salem, NC
Pastor Joel C. Hunter, Senior Pastor, Northland, a Church Distributed
Lakeland, FL
Dr. Arturo Chavez, Ph.D., President & CEO, Mexican American Cultural Center
San Antonio, TX
Rev. Jim Wallis, President & Executive Director, Sojourners
Washington, DC
Bishop Vashti M. McKenzie, Presiding Bishop, 13th Episcopal District, African Methodist Episcopal Church
Knoxville, TN
Diane Baillargeon, President & CEO, Seedco, a secular national operating intermediary
New York, NY
Richard Stearns, President, World Vision
Bellevue, WA
That is exactly what I meant. If that is Faith, I am a 22 year old buxom blonde!
My thoughts exactly
Gee, if Tony can be “disinvited” because of his religion, then Notre Dame can disinvite ZerØ because of theirs.
I would love to see that happen.
“It is extremely important for the advisory council to uphold civil rights and civil liberties and I am concerned that Coach Dungy is far from the best person to do that,” Rev. Barry Lynn, the executive director of Americans United, said”
It is also sad to see that Barry Lynne is even allowed to use the word Reverand in front of his name. I would he would get along fine with Anton Levay or Aleister Crowley. Lynee’s lifelong work and ambition is too tear down Christianity. He is evil personified.
The List, ping
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