Volunteers for Prosperity: Your Tax Dollars for Jesus

Yesterday I mentioned a federal program Bush created in 2003 to funnel your foreign aid dollars into Christian organizations: Volunteers for Prosperity. Today I'm reading the 2004 VfP annual report, touting the recipient organization of a $200,000 grant called Partners for Christian Development. Actually, they've since changed their name to "Partners Worldwide: Christian Businesspeople Transforming Lives." Max Weber would have gotten a kick out of these guys -- here's their explanation of their 'spiritual foundations':

Partners Worldwide grieves when people are unable to image God through satisfying, productive, self-supporting ordinary daily work.   But neither passive acceptance nor guilt-based activity are options because we are privileged to be co-workers with Jesus Christ whose promise is “I am making everything new” (Revelation 21:5a). 

Partners’ special focus is actively seeking out ways to affirm and create satisfying God-imaging daily work for everyone*, especially for those living in poverty because of pervasive conditions of high unemployment. As members of Partners Worldwide, we see all ordinary daily work, both for ourselves and for those with whom we partner, as joyful expressions of our calling to image God as He originally intended in His good creation.  We believe working toward this goal for everyone will be blessed with surprising results because it is based on this biblical promise:  “The kingdom of this world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ” (Revelation 11:15*)

As Christian Partners we seek out ways to partner with other Christians to provide jobs and opportunities for profitable personal and business growth so that everyone, especially those unemployed and otherwise marginalized, will be more fully empowered to image God through productive, satisfying, self-supporting daily work.

It's not that I have a problem with Christian charity. I have a problem with using public funds for Christian charity.

We have no idea how much of our public funds are being diverted to 'faith-based' organizations, because none of the departments involved are required to keep track of it. Who needs accountability, when you've got Jesus?