Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders announced Friday that her administration launched a website for faith-based initiatives, with a goal “to unite Arkansas’s diverse faith communities around issues facing the Natural State.”
“Faith is the guiding light in my life and in the lives of so many Arkansans,” Sanders said in a press release. This is true. Faith is undoubtedly guiding the lives and politics of many Arkansas residents, sometimes in controversial directions. (Abortion bans, blocks on gender-affirming care for transgender minors and taxpayer funding via the LEARNS Act now available to religious schools, to name a few examples.)
So whose faith is guiding Arkansas, and where will it lead us? This is where the worry comes in.
“Governor Sanders hopes to build a united front to tackle issues like childhood hunger, mental illness, maternal health, foster care, social media, and so much more,” the announcement says. The keyword here should be “united.” The announcement about this initiative mentions churches, temples and faith-based nonprofits. Let’s remember the good works done by Arkansas’s Muslims and Wiccans, too.
Groups wanting to participate are asked to fill out a questionnaire asking the name of the lead pastor, CEO or executive director, and to specify the vulnerable populations served (foster care, drug addiction recovery, homelessness or mental illness are a few examples).
It’s unclear whether taxpayer money will be allocated to religious organizations through this program, but it wouldn’t be surprising. The state already sends public money to faith-based crisis pregnancy centers aimed at deterring abortions, and Arkansas ponied up hundreds of thousands in “Right to Worship Safely” grants earlier this year to help churches and synagogues tighten their defenses against trespassers.
It’s fair to worry about potentially darker undertones to the governor’s faith-based project. Sanders’ administration is already cherry picking ideology from the 900-page playbook for Project 2025, the Christian nationalist treatise that would transform the United States of America into the Republic of Gilead from “The Handmaid’s Tale” should former President Donald Trump win this November. Will faith-based efforts be offered up in lieu of the government services that could go on the chopping block should Trump win a second term?
Project 2025, a passion project for Trump’s VP pick, retools religion as an excuse to discriminate against LGBTQ+ people, defund public education in favor of religious schools and cut access to abortion care. The plan would “roll back civil rights protections across multiple fronts, including cutting diversity, equity and inclusion-related programs and LGBTQ+ rights in healthcare, education and workplaces,” according to an analysis by Democracy Forward.
Of course, faith-based organizations have a positive role to play in community building. There are numerous examples of churches serving as shelters during natural disasters or opening their doors as warming centers for homeless populations in the winter.
Those efforts are great, but they cannot supplant existing government programs staffed with experts trained in evidence-based solutions to address social issues, ranging from mental health, hunger, homelessness and drug use.
As a poor state, Arkansas depends heavily on the wage and job safety protections, food assistance and public education the state and federal governments provide. No faith-based initiatives could fill those voids.