The Howard Baker Center for Public Policy held a public forum, "Church and State: Federally Supported Faith Based Initiatives," to discuss whether religious groups should receive the same treatment as secular groups on Monday, Sept. 15.

The panel consisted of UT faculty members and members of the Knoxville community. Panelists included:

• Jennifer Hendricks, associate professor of the College of Law.
• Mark Hulsether, professor of religious studies.
• John Sibley, president of the Literacy Imperative, a local area organization.
• Otis Stephens, professor of the College of Law.

Each panelist gave a short introduction with information regarding faith-based and community initiatives.

The forum allowed participants to give comments, ask questions, discuss issues and debate the controversial topic.

Hendricks started the forum by discussing the controversial issue of whether religious groups should be treated the same or different than secular groups.

The theory of faith-based initiatives is that religious groups should be treated the same and receive federal grants, she said. The controversy surrounding this issue is that many want to see the preservation of separation of church and state.

President George W. Bush's Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives believes that federal funding should be distributed to organizations based on their effectiveness within the community. Bush wants faith-based and community organizations to have equal opportunities in obtaining necessary federal funding.

Sibley spoke on behalf of his organization, Literacy Imperative. The organization is a faith-based initiative of Mt. Zion Baptist Church in Knoxville. The building contains more than 20,000 books of all genres and has on-site literacy programs for people of all ages.

Stephens discussed the 2007 Supreme Court case, Hein v. Freedom from Religion Foundation. The ruling stated that taxpayers do not have the right to challenge the White House Office of Faith-Based Initiatives.

Hulsether briefly discussed the issue of free exercise of religion and gave participants a two-sided view of faith-based initiatives.  In one aspect, the federal grant helps certain worthy projects, he said. However, some claim the money is going to faith-based organizations operated by Bush supporters.