When I was child, I was told about the Bible story that "it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter heaven." Like many kids, I was kind of a literal fundamentalist then, so I was happily amazed about this revelation. I really thought then that the rich must not have heard about this Biblical story so I needed just to go out and start telling them about it and they would give up their riches to help all the poor people. Then my mother told me it was just kind of a story and the eye of a needle could also mean a low arch and not the kind of needle I was thinking about. So, I didn't go out with a faith-based initiative to tell the rich what I had thought would be some good news.

It hasn't gotten a lot better for the poor and for average working people. Yet, I still retain a piece of my childhood beliefs and still day dream that if those in power only knew what the consequences of what their policies were, they would be quick to change things. Maybe we should take a literal view of the mandate for the federal Department of Homeland Security. After all, with 41 million Americans lacking health insurance, 33 million living in poverty, and 9 million unemployed, that's a whole lot of homeland insecurity that we need to take on even perhaps before we rush into Iraq.

The debate over the past two years about President Bush's faith-based initiative has been great politics for the Bush administration because it has allowed it to keep attention away from its policies that don't do much to help average working families. This faith-based initiative is about giving religious congregations more access to compete for federal government funding for social service programs.

This has led to an endless storm of debate amongst civil liberterians concerned about separation of church and state, progressives who worry about funding religious organizations that may discriminate in whom they hire, and religious leaders who want to do more to help the poor and ask why shouldn't they be eligible for these funds too.

These are all legitmate positions. Religious connected organizations like Catholic Charities, Lutheran Social Services, and Jewish Vocational Services have already had access to federal funds as non-profit organizations. The President's initiative will allow more additional individual congregations and ministries to apply for these funds too. Some of these congregations may do a better job than some presently funded secular and religious organizations, some will do about the same, and some may not do as well.

Meanwhile, 'back at the Bush Ranch', this has been a wonderful show:

1.Less attention on President Bush's tax cut for the wealthy in 2001.

These great debates about the right role of church and state deflect attention from the great truth that President Bush's tax cut that mostly goes to wealthy individuals has foreclosed the possibility of significant federal action for (pick any and all of the following): those without health insurance, the unemployed, the over hundred million of our people who don't earn a living wage, the tens of millions of children who don't learn enough now to get a decent paying job later, seniors who can't afford the cost of prescription druges, etc. If that's not enough, now President Bush proposes more tax cuts in capital gains for the wealthy who hold most of the stocks and making permanent the repeal on the inheritance tax for the most wealthy.

2. Despite all this, gaining support from good hearted people.

Although Al Gore spoke a lot about faith based initiatives during the 2000 campaign too, since President Bush got to be President, one way or another, he gets to implement some kind of policy on this and win the thanks of people who feel more congregations should have a chance to run programs to help the poor. President Bush has a tough job and it is a dangerous world. Yet, people no longer expect great vision or courage from many of our political leaders so President Bush may get by with such gestures as this small faith based initiative while the big needs of our country go unmet.

3. People thinking access is the same as power.

It's nice to have access to apply to run programs and even very occasional access to meet with powerful people, but that doesn't translate very often into better opportunities for the tens of millions who don't have them. If the available pie stays the same size, giving more organizations and congregations more of a chance to apply for it, just creates more losers in the proposal writing game. It doesn't help many more people, but it does keep a lot of people busy and yet their eyes are not on the real prize.

We greatly need prophetic voices and a mass movement to change our story. Our religious congregations, civic organizations, and labor unions should be, can be, and occasionally are places where we can tell our stories, understand what they mean, and take action that would mean we could then write new, more hopeful stories about our lives.

We should be invited by congregations and organizations to share our stories about what's happening to us when we and our communities are hurting. We need support and understanding from our faith and democratic traditions that these are not just our private problems, but often are indications of the failings of our government and big business because there really isn't opportunity for all. Yet, then it's up to us to find ways to persistently organize and act together to change this reality. That means attending meetings, joining organizations, and insisting on accountability from those with power and not giving up this fight.

I am not still that kid wondering about camels and rich people am I when I say that we can have some more justice on this earth and we are all actually called to work towards that by our faith traditions? Remembering that and acting on it would be a really big faith based initiative.

(Lewis Finfer is the Director of the Organizing and Leadership Training Center on Dorchester Avenue)