In a previous post I introduced Joshua DuBois, executive director for President Obama’s new White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships.

On July 9, 2009, Obama’s Faith-Based Council held its first face-to-face meeting with the White House. The issues being tackled will include:

  • Reform of the President’s Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships
  • Economic recovery and poverty
  • Fatherhood
  • Interfaith
  • Climate change
  • Global poverty

According to the Washington Post, the more controversial talking points came from the task force assigned the task of reforming the Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships, regarding the separation of church and state and constitutional boundaries.

According to the Post article, task force leader Melissa Rogers, director of Wake Forest University’s Center for Religion and Public Affairs summarizes the challenging issues the group faces.

What is the Center for Religion and Public Affairs? And where do they stand on the issues of church and state?

Their website provides a brief introduction to some of the issues facing Christians today:

  • Religion, policy and politics. Should religion shape public policy? Should it play a role in politics? What are some of the legal, ethical, philosophical and religious principles that should guide analysis of these questions?
  • Religion and public schools. A major front in the battle over religion’s role in public affairs has been, and continues to be, our nation’s elementary and secondary public schools.
  • Religious expression and public places. How far does a Christian’s individual right to free speech actually go?
  • Religion and the workplace. Workplaces are not “religion-free” zones. However, employers must not only accommodate the religious interests of their employees, they also must guard against abuse of religion in the workplace.
  • Government funding, religious institutions and religious activities. Where does the line separating church and state lie?
  • Free exercise of religion. The Supreme Court’s interpretation of the Free Exercise Clause has varied substantially over the last one hundred and thirty years. How do the courts interpret this today?

Click here to view what public policies affect Christians–as individuals and as churches–in the United States today.