For those who find themselves turned off or "deceived" by Senator Obama's faith-based initiatives proposal today, I would direct you, once again, to his second book, "The Audacity of Hope," page 221 in the hard copy version:

And one can envision certain faith based programs -- targeting ex-offenders or substance abusers -- that offer a uniquely powerful way of solving problems and hence merit carefully tailored support

Perhaps Senator Obama's view of the separation of church and state is different from yours, but make no mistake about it, he has a very clear and thought out position from which he has never strayed: government can work with religious organizations on targeted secular programs; government can not discriminate between religious and non-religious organizations in administering these programs; and any money allocated to religious organizations can not be used to proselytize or fund religious activities.

Not surprisingly, Senator Obama did not focus much on his faith based initiatives during the primary campaign.  If you need me to explain why, I think there may be some other lessons about politics we'll have to start with first.  Regardless, this has been an issue that he has spent a lot of time thinking and writing about throughout his public life.  I would urge you to read through his chapter on Faith in "The Audacity of Hope," because in there he talks about how he has waded and stumbled through many of the most difficult issues in our church and state debate.  

The conclusion that Senator Obama has come to is that religion informs the positions of a vast amount of voters and to not recognize this is both unfair to them and not politically viable.  He understands that there are certain points in all debates that are informed by religious belief where compromise is impossible, which is why he writes (page 222):

Still, between those who believe that life begins at conception and those who consider a fetus an extension of the woman's body until birth, a point is rapidly reached where compromise is not possible.  At that point, the best we can do is ensure that persuasion rather than violence or intimidation determines the political outcome -- and that we focus at least some of our energies on reducing the number of unwanted pregnancies through education (including about abstinence), contraception, adoption, or any other strategies that have broad support and have been proven to work.

Rarely have I found a politician who understands the debate about religion in this country better than Senator Obama, and who genuinely wants to do what he can, where he can, to ease the tensions between the two sides.  He knows there will never be a time where pro-choice activists and pro-life activists agree with each other on the issue of abortion, but he also knows that beneath those strongly held opinions are a number of issues where general consensus is easily reached and progress is possible.  

Too often the debate about separation of church and state in this country seems to be a debate between engaging the most religious voters and engaging the most secular.  Whether that is the intention of the politicians is besides the point, because the way they have framed their arguments fits them all too easily into one of these two categories.  Senator Obama seeks to disarm this fallacious dichotomy by engaging a convergent set of moral principles that are informed by the set of values of both those most stridently secular and religious.  

And for those who want to go to the extreme and call Senator Obama someone who seeks to impose any religious idea or set of values upon all of us, I would point you to one more quote (page 226):

I thought of Sasha asking me once what happened when we die -- "I don't want to die, Daddy," she had added matter of factly -- and I had hugged her and said, "you've got a long, long way before you have to worry about that," which had seemed to satisfy her.  I wondered whether I should have told her the truth, that I wasn't sure what happens when we die, any more than I was sure of where the soul resides or what existed before the Big Bang.  Walking up the stairs, I knew what I hoped for -- that my mother was together in some way with those four little girls (he's talking about the girls killed by the bomb in the Birmingham church in '63), capable in some fashion of embracing them, of finding joy in their spirits.  

I know that tucking in my daughters that night, I grasped a little bit of heaven.  

This is a man who is constantly seeking to find ways to bridge the gaps between between secular and religious views in the American experience, both in his personal and public life.  If we're ever going to get beyond the demoralizing debates between the James Dobsons and Christopher Hitchens of this country, we need more politicians like Senator Obama, who are willing to put the thought and energy into their policies to find room for us all.  

By the way, for those who question how important an issue faith is for him, I would point you to the fact that his chapter on faith in "The Audacity of Hope" is two pages longer than his chapter on the constitution :)