Faith-Based

Responding to the charge that public reliance on "faith-based" agencies to help poor children is inherently problematic, Msgr. Kevin Sullivan of Catholic Charities writes in the New York Times that we need "the broadest array of faith-based and non-faith-based programs." I understand Msgr. Sullivan's point, but his formulation raises an interesting question. Is it true that some groups seeking to help the poor act on the basis of "faith," whereas others do not?

Of course it is not true. Most of what we do in life, we do because we believe - we have accepted on faith - what others have told us. If we tried to restrict our activities or (even more) our ideas to those areas untouched by "faith" - for example, those areas in which we had personally conducted empirically conclusive research - few of us would ever put on a pair shoes or take a drink of water, much less try out more complex procedures, such as getting married, figuring out right from wrong, or helping to reduce child poverty.

Human beings by definition are "faith-based" creatures. The important question, then, is not whether we believe, but what we believe. If the term "faith-based," currently so much in vogue, ends up reinforcing the popular but deeply flawed notion that there is a natural split between faith and reason, and that the world is divided between those who have "faith" in something and those who do not, then it may be time for an emergency meeting of the Conceptual Frameworkers Union.

Meanwhile, when it comes to helping at-risk children, if I must choose between a social service agency whose guiding value is the God-given dignity of the human person, and one whose guiding value is the latest proposition coming out of our most prestigious schools of social work, I will choose the former.

Sources: Stephen O'Connor, "When Children Relied on Faith-Based Agencies," New York Times, op-ed, May 26, 2001. Msgr. Kevin Sullivan, New York Times, letter to the editor, June 2, 2001.

First published Spring/Summer 2001.