VOA标准英语2012--Decade Later, Debate Goes on Over US Government Faith-Based Partnership

Decade Later, Debate Goes on Over US Government Faith-Based Partnership¹

A truck filled with food boxes arrives at the doors of the Church of the Nazarene in the Philadelphia suburb of Colingdale in time for the weekly "Family Dinner." Neighborhood families who are struggling to feed themselves are invited in for a hot meal and free groceries.

Lisa Anne Gulley winces² from the constant pain of an abscessed tooth as a volunteer fills her shopping bag. Gulley hasn't been able to afford dental treatment since she was laid off from her job, let alone pay the bills.

"We lost our home, we lost everything," she said. "So I come for God and they give the suppers and the food."

Churches and other religious institutions in the United States receive hundreds of millions of dollars a year in taxpayer³ money to provide social services such as feeding the poor.

This cooperation between government and religion is known as the Faith-Based Initiative, and it has grown in the decade since President George W. Bush set up federal offices to promote it. But critics say the initiative violates the constitutional prohibition⁴ against establishing an official state religion.

"We're not establishing any religion," said Max Finberg, director of the one of the offices set up by President Bush, the Center for Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships⁵ at the U.S. Department of Agriculture. "What we're doing is making sure that everybody in need who qualifies for the programs that USDA is mandated⁷ to offer is getting this information and this help and putting food on the table."

At the Nazarene church, pastor⁸ Donna Sarog says anyone is welcome to ask for help.

"We don't insist on them hearing the Gospel before they eat, at all," she said. But she adds that as an evangelical Christian⁹, it is her obligation to "share Christ, whether verbally, or just in our actions."

As the visitors devour¹⁰ steaming bowls of chili¹¹ in the church cafeteria, a volunteer reads aloud a passage from the New Testament¹² about Jesus' early followers¹³ sharing a meal together.

Finberg says churches distributing food purchased with government money may not proselytize¹⁴. But he concedes that the line between proselytizing¹⁵ and living out one's faith "gets a little gray in certain aspects."

"When you are required to pray in whatever tradition in order to receive food or to receive benefits," he added, "that crosses the line."

One church near Collingdale was kicked out of the faith-based program after a Muslim man reported being proselytized¹⁶, according to Alan Edelstein, director of the Family and Community Service of Delaware County which administers its state-funded food assitance program.

The Commonwealth¹⁷ of Pennsylvania gives $15 million to its counties to feed the poor. Delaware County's share - more than half a million dollars - is used to buy food and deliver it to food pantries located at churches throughout the county including the Nazarene.

Edelstein says the county chose to work through churches because they were already active in low-income neighborhoods and provide their own volunteers and staff.

"You really get the best bang for the buck¹⁸ this way," he said.

University of Pennsylvania social policy professor Ram⁶ Cnaan says it would be "ostrich-like" to try to alleviate¹⁹ hunger in America without acknowleding a role for churches. Cnaan, an expert on faith based organizations, says there are more churches per square mile in America than any other establishment.

"So is it to the advantage of the American taxpayer and citizen? Yes. Is it a threat to the separation of church and state? Maybe," he said, "but in this case we should have a constitutional decision," he says, referring to the absence of a Supreme²⁰ Court ruling on the government's faith-based initiatives.

Americans United for the Separation of Church and State based in Washington, DC, is trying to mount a challenge on the basis that some religious organizations employ only people of their own faith - a practice that is prohibited for tax-funded organizations.

AU director Barry Lynn, an ordained²¹ minister in the United Church of Christ, worries that some churches are taking advantage of hungry people.

"People feel pressured in circumstances of vulnerability to do whatever the person offering the sandwich wants them to do," he said, adding that if America wants to eliminate poverty, it should improve the public welfare system.

"If we had a system that was comprehensive," he said, "you wouldn't need to find a church here, a synagogue there, a mosque²² somewhere else, to provide these services."

1 partnership   

n.合作关系，伙伴关系

参考例句：

• The company has gone into partnership with Swiss Bank Corporation.这家公司已经和瑞士银行公司建立合作关系。
• Martin has taken him into general partnership in his company.马丁已让他成为公司的普通合伙人。

2 winces   

避开，畏缩( wince的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• He winces at the memory of that experience. 他一回想起那番经历就畏缩起来。
• He winces at the memory of that defeat. 一想到那次失败他就畏缩了。

3 taxpayer   

n.纳税人

参考例句：

• The new scheme will run off with a lot of the taxpayer's money.这项新计划将用去纳税人许多钱。
• The taxpayer are unfavourably disposed towards the recent tax increase.纳税者对最近的增加税收十分反感。

4 prohibition   

n.禁止；禁令，禁律

参考例句：

• The prohibition against drunken driving will save many lives.禁止酒后开车将会减少许多死亡事故。
• They voted in favour of the prohibition of smoking in public areas.他们投票赞成禁止在公共场所吸烟。

5 partnerships   

n.伙伴关系( partnership的名词复数 )；合伙人身份；合作关系

参考例句：

• Partnerships suffer another major disadvantage: decision-making is shared. 合伙企业的另一主要缺点是决定要由大家来作。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件
• It involved selling off limited partnerships. 它涉及到售出有限的合伙权。 来自辞典例句

6 ram   

(random access memory)随机存取存储器

参考例句：

• 512k RAM is recommended and 640k RAM is preferred.推荐配置为512K内存，640K内存则更佳。

7 mandated   

adj. 委托统治的

参考例句：

• Mandated desegregation of public schools. 命令解除公立学校中的种族隔离
• Britain was mandated to govern the former colony of German East Africa. 英国受权代管德国在东非的前殖民地。

8 pastor   

n.牧师，牧人

参考例句：

• He was the son of a poor pastor.他是一个穷牧师的儿子。
• We have no pastor at present:the church is run by five deacons.我们目前没有牧师：教会的事是由五位执事管理的。

9 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。

10 devour   

v.吞没；贪婪地注视或谛听，贪读；使着迷

参考例句：

• Larger fish devour the smaller ones.大鱼吃小鱼。
• Beauty is but a flower which wrinkle will devour.美只不过是一朵，终会被皱纹所吞噬。

11 chili   

n.辣椒

参考例句：

• He helped himself to another two small spoonfuls of chili oil.他自己下手又加了两小勺辣椒油。
• It has chocolate,chili,and other spices.有巧克力粉，辣椒，和其他的调味品。

12 testament   

n.遗嘱；证明

参考例句：

• This is his last will and testament.这是他的遗愿和遗嘱。
• It is a testament to the power of political mythology.这说明，编造政治神话可以产生多大的威力。

13 followers   

追随者( follower的名词复数 )； 用户； 契据的附面； 从动件

参考例句：

• the followers of Mahatma Gandhi 圣雄甘地的拥护者
• The reformer soon gathered a band of followers round him. 改革者很快就获得一群追随者支持他。

14 proselytize   

v.改变宗教

参考例句：

• I assured him we didn't come here to proselytize.我向他保证我们并不是来改变他的信仰的。
• Christians were arrested for trying to convert people,to proselytise them.基督徒因为试图改变他人信仰而被捕。

15 proselytizing   

v.（使）改变宗教信仰[政治信仰、意见等]，使变节( proselytize的现在分词 )

参考例句：

16 proselytized   

v.（使）改变宗教信仰[政治信仰、意见等]，使变节( proselytize的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

17 commonwealth   

n.共和国，联邦，共同体

参考例句：

• He is the chairman of the commonwealth of artists.他是艺术家协会的主席。
• Most of the members of the Commonwealth are nonwhite.英联邦的许多成员国不是白人国家。

18 buck   

n.雄鹿，雄兔；v.马离地跳跃

参考例句：

• The boy bent curiously to the skeleton of the buck.这个男孩好奇地弯下身去看鹿的骸骨。
• The female deer attracts the buck with high-pitched sounds.雌鹿以尖声吸引雄鹿。

19 alleviate   

v.减轻，缓和，缓解(痛苦等)

参考例句：

• The doctor gave her an injection to alleviate the pain.医生给她注射以减轻疼痛。
• Nothing could alleviate his distress.什么都不能减轻他的痛苦。

20 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

21 ordained   

v.任命（某人）为牧师( ordain的过去式和过去分词 )；授予（某人）圣职；（上帝、法律等）命令；判定

参考例句：

• He was ordained in 1984. 他在一九八四年被任命为牧师。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He was ordained priest. 他被任命为牧师。 来自辞典例句

22 mosque   

n.清真寺

参考例句：

• The mosque is a activity site and culture center of Muslim religion.清真寺为穆斯林宗教活动场所和文化中心。
• Some years ago the clock in the tower of the mosque got out of order.几年前，清真寺钟楼里的大钟失灵了。