These final regulations implement Executive branch policy that, within the framework of constitutional church-state guidelines, religiously affiliated (or "faith-based") organizations should be able to compete on an equal footing with other organizations for funding by the U.S. Department of Education (Department). Department regulations are being revised to remove barriers to the participation of faith-based organizations in Department programs and to ensure that these programs are implemented in a manner consistent with the requirements of the U.S. Constitution, including the Establishment, Free Exercise, and Free Speech Clauses of the First Amendment. These regulations are effective July 6, 2004. [This final rule was put forth by the Center for Faith-Based and Community Initiatives, Office of the Secretary, U.S. Department of Education.].

What do Hobby Lobby, InterVarsity Christian Fellowship, Wheaton College, World Vision, the Little Sisters of the Poor, and the University of Notre Dame have in common? All are faith-based organizations that have faced pressure to act in ways contrary to their religious beliefs. In this book, two policy experts show how faith-based groups--those active in the educational, healthcare, international aid and development, and social service fields--can defend their ability to follow their religiously based beliefs without having to jettison the very faith and faith-based practices that led them to provide services to those in need. They present a pluralist vision for religious freedom for faith-based organizations of all religious traditions. The book includes case studies that document the challenges faith-based organizations face to freely follow the practices of their religious traditions and analyzes these threats as originating in a common, yet erroneous, set of assumptions and attitudes prevalent in American society. The book also includes responses by diverse voices--an Orthodox Jew, a Roman Catholic, two evangelicals, two Islamic leaders, and an unbeliever who is a religious-freedom advocate--underscoring the importance of religious freedom for faith-based organizations.

This pioneering book charts how President George W. Bush's "compassionate conservatism" creates a new path for American Social Policy. There is a growing interest in testing the proposition that faith-based organizations (FBOs) could do even greater good, especially if government supports an expanded role. The organizations represent a potentially valuable, but controversial, resource because they offer to fight a very different war against America's social ills. This work offers three conclusions. First, FBOs are effective in dealing with chronic social problems because they spark personal transformation. Second, financing them through the Tax Code or vouchers is preferable to direct federal funding. The fear that public funding means government take-over of religion serves as perhaps the greatest impediment to a more expansive role for FBOs. Third, although predicting the U.S. Supreme Court's resolution of church-state issues is fraught with difficulties, the emerging "equal treatment" of religion by the High Court suggests a more permissive attitude toward the federal funding of religous charities. The tax and voucher alternatives seem certain to pass constitutional muster. In God We Trust? is among the first works to assess President Bush's policy efforts to meet America's social ills by turning more tasks over to FBOs. In addition to demonstrating the constitutionality of the federal efforts to fund FBOs, the book analytically summarizes the existing empirical evidence dealing with the effectiveness of faith-based organizations.

Using personal stories and interviews with prominent leaders, this book explores the practical, political, and legal issues associated with government funding of FBO's.