The Faith-Based Initiative and The Religious Right

President George W. Bush establishment of the Faith-Based Initiative and Community Affairs office by presidential executive order reawaken the separation of church and state debates of the 1800 s and polarized secular and religious groups. The George W. Bush Administration s disregard of separation of church and state constitutional barriers created a schism that remains unhealed today. Conservative religious groups demand adherence to their theology and threaten to remove elected officials from office if they do not hold fast to conservative religious faith values. This ironclad governance dogma created an atmosphere of intolerance toward other faith and secular groups. The Faith-Based Initiatives by-product is the revivification of historical religious establishment practices that produced religiously sanctioned violence, death, racial segregation, and the isolation of non-state religions. This abridgement of the United States Constitution s First Amendment affected the relationship between governance, civic responsibility, and hidden pious agendas.