Religion, government can work together, Leavitt says

"I would suggest to you that religion and government should always be maintained as separate, but religious freedom and religious right is not just in the interest of the people, it is in the interest of the nation," Leavitt said Sunday at the opening session of the 15th annual International Law and Religion Symposium at Brigham Young University.

More than 70 government officials, judges and scholars representing nearly 40 countries converged on the campus to discuss the theme "International Protection of Religious Freedom: National Implementation."

Leavitt, the U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services, told the group that he has a long standing appreciation for the ability of government to work hand-in-hand with faith-based organizations.

While he was quick to point out to the well-educated international audience that he is by no means a scholar, he considers himself a practitioner. He said his first experience in realizing the importance of a good relationship between faith-based organizations and government came as governor.

In an effort to find more foster homes for children who were living in abusive environments, Leavitt turned to the leaders of many different denominations in the community and he called the response phenomenal compared to all of the state's previous efforts.

"I learned from that and other experiences as a governor, that people will respond to whom they pay their tithes and offerings far more then they will of those to whom they pay their taxes," Leavitt said. "That was a very important thing for a public servant to learn. If I wanted to find where the energy was within the community, then I needed to turn to organizations such as churches, who could reach out and touch the hearts of people."

When Leavitt was appointed to his position in the Bush administration, he put that knowledge to work. Leavitt said the president had noticed that there was a natural reluctance for churches to deal with government and for government to deal with churches, even though the two were dealing with the same people and worrying about a lot of the same problems.

It was for that reason that Bush launched what he calls faith-based initiatives.

"It was a direct strike at changing the culture of our government, not to take over religion but to partner with religion in dealing with the citizens that we both serve in unique and different ways," Leavitt said.

Leavitt, who oversees the largest single budget in the federal government, has had a direct role in implementing many of the programs that offer funding for those who seek social help from faith-based services as well as government-based programs. Some of the partnerships that have been implemented have involved substance abuse recovery, youth mentoring, homelessness, emergency response and AIDS relief.

Leavitt touted the effectiveness of this partnership by pointing out that 35 states have also implemented initiatives similar to the federal ones, and that the efforts have been bipartisan — mentioning that 19 of the states have Democratic leadership and 16 are Republican led. Leavitt also pointed out that both presidential candidates John McCain and Barack Obama have expressed their own support for an expanded partnership with faith-based organizations.

E-mail: ethomas@desnews.com

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