Matter of faith: Support for comprehensive sex education among faith-based organizations.

Since colonial times religious institutions in the United States have played a major role in providing social services to the needy. In doing so churches and synagogues for most of the nations history either operated without significant support from the government or set up separate nonprofits for their charity work. Over the past few decades however a growing movement has developed to expand partnerships between faith-based organizations and the government. The "Charitable Choice" provisions in the 1996 welfare reform law effected the most significant legislative changes to the relationship between government and faith-based organizations in recent history. President Bush has sought to build on Charitable Choice by establishing the White House Faith-Based and Community Initiative and Centers for Faith-Based Community Initiatives across several government agencies. Through these initiatives and an array of policy reforms and outreach Bush has promoted broader involvement of faith-based organizations in social programs as a core component of his "compassionate conservative" agenda. (excerpt)