Liberty, Religion, and Welfare Policy

July-August 1993

WASHINGTON, D.C.—"Genuine liberty, including liberty for those now held captive by poverty," said James Skillen at a conference here June 16, "requires a grasp of the truth about human nature and human responsibility. To contend for the truth, however, is to engage in what I believe is a religiously rooted exercise in which we as citizens must be willing to go far beyond interest-group conflict and narrow technical disputes."

Skillen's topic was poverty and the welfare syndrome. The occasion was a conference on "Religion and Liberty" hosted by the Cato Institute at the Capital Hilton. Rethinking welfare policy was only one of the tough issues discussed on a panel that also included Walter Block on drug prohibition, Jo Kwong on environmentalism, and Amy Sherman on foreign aid.

Three other panels took up the religious foundations of liberty, Scripture and policy, and threats to religious liberty. Among the other speakers were Doug Bandow who organized the conference for the Cato Institute, Arthur McGovern from the University of Detroit, Terry Eastland at the Ethics and Public Policy Center, Charles E. Rice of Notre Dame, and James Gwartney from Florida State University. Richard John Neuhaus gave the luncheon address.

The general question posed for the conference was this: "Are religion and liberty friends or adversaries?" In trying to go to the root of the welfare policy crisis, Skillen said that he did not see religion and liberty as necessarily either in conflict or in harmony with one another. It all depends on the nature of one's religion. "Different religions (or religious equivalents) may be in harmony or in conflict with one another over their views of liberty depending on their understanding of human nature and the task of government." Religion, in other words, is not one narrow social function among others. To the contrary, different religions serve as the guiding forces that integrate a diverse range of human actions and decisions for those who adhere to them.

Guided by a pragmatic, utilitarian ideology (a secular religion) that dominates American public life today, far too much of our current welfare policy, Skillen argued, simply takes for granted that government ought to deliver additional services to individuals who cannot achieve a lower class economic status. The poorest Americans, many assume, need something more from government than is provided by "standard operating policies" (such as free education, dependency allowances, Social Security, etc.) for all citizens. Furthermore, this dominant outlook on life often discriminates against overtly religious efforts designed to help the poor. Schooling, tutoring, soup kitchens, housing assistance, legal counsel, and other programs offered by self-professed religious organizations are typically denied the public funding that goes to so-called secular and governmental programs of a similar nature.

Today, it appears that the Clinton administration and many members of Congress want to make a change—to substitute workfare for welfare in order to force people out of dependency. Is this a good sign of progress or merely another pragmatic, utilitarian ploy? Skillen said that it all depends on what the policymakers believe about human nature, the task of government, and the character of religion. If President Clinton is simply reacting to popular objections to welfare, he will not get very far in proposing reforms, because good policy arises not simply from a pragmatic rejection of something that does not work. Good policy requires a clear standard of what is right. Consequently, apart from a serious public debate over standards of right and wrong, interest-group conflict will only produce incoherent compromises that can do nothing more to solve the welfare crisis than recent budget compromises have done to solve the deficit crisis.

"Is it not time," Skillen asked, "to turn our attention to the underlying presuppositions of both government's standard operating policies and its welfare policies? Could it be that our standard operating policies, including those that discriminate against overtly religious organizations, are actually helping to produce the very poverty that welfare policies are unable to handle? Could it be that the liberal/conservative presuppositions about human nature—secularized presuppositions of individual autonomy and equality—are so flawed and inadequate that they require radical revision before we can begin to engage meaningfully in disputes over the fine points of welfare and workfare?"

In developing his argument in his paper, Skillen suggested that the welfare policy crisis exists in part because certain emergency relief programs have foolishly become fixed as standard operating policies, while in some of the critical urban areas where we may need emergency responses, governments either fail to act or try to approach the problems as if more spending on present standard operating policies will be sufficient. The confusion is due in part to the failure of public policy to hold people accountable to their obligations in families, schools, work places, churches, and neighborhoods.

"My high view of the family, of adult responsibility in a differentiated society, and of a limited but authoritative government depends on a biblical view of the drama of history—the history of God's unfolding creation," Skillen concluded. "Human beings, male and female, are the image of God—creatures whose many relationships and responsibilities find their center of gravity not in any single role or function but in God himself. Human beings have been created ultimately for fellowship with God; they have an identity and a destiny tied to the Creator who transcends them. From this point of view, all of life is religious—defined by the God who has created all things and holds all of us accountable before him. The ultimate goal of human existence, therefore, is not individual freedom defined as maximum autonomy, but maturity defined as the full exercise of one's talents and social responsibilities in ways pleasing to God."