I thought liberals advocated a strict separation of church and state. The exception, it appears, is when it’s Obama advocating a complete synthesis of the two. As per Stanley Kurtz’s revealing piece and the Chicago Reader. From “What Makes Obama Run“:
In an interview after the class, Obama again spoke of the need to organize and mobilize the economic power and moral fervor of black churches. He also argued that as a state senator he might help bring this about faster than as a community organizer or civil rights lawyer.
…”We have no shortage of moral fervor,” said Obama. “We have some wonderful preachers in town–preachers who continue to inspire me–preachers who are magnificent at articulating a vision of the world as it should be. In every church on Sunday in the African-American community we have this moral fervor; we have energy to burn.
“But as soon as church lets out, the energy dissipates. We must find ways to channel all this energy into community building. The biggest failure of the civil rights movement was in failing to translate this energy, this moral fervor, into creating lasting institutions and organizational structures.”
So, does this mean that a President Obama would keep the Office of Faith Based Initiatives?