Religion, government can work together, Leavitt says

PROVO — Churches and government can work together for a common cause, says former Utah governor Mike Leavitt.

"I would suggest to you that religion and government should always be maintained as separate, but religious freedom and religious right is not just in the interest of the people, it is in the interest of the nation," Leavitt said Sunday at the opening session of the 15th annual International Law and Religion Symposium at Brigham Young University.

More than 70 government officials, judges and scholars representing nearly 40 countries converged on the campus to discuss the theme "International Protection of Religious Freedom: National Implementation."

Leavitt, the U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services, told the group that he has a long standing appreciation for the ability of government to work hand-in-hand with faith-based organizations.

While he was quick to point out to the well-educated international audience that he is by no means a scholar, he considers himself a practitioner. He said his first experience in realizing the importance of a good relationship between faith-based organizations and government came as governor.

In an effort to find more foster homes for children who were living in abusive environments, Leavitt turned to the leaders of many different denominations in the community and he called the response phenomenal compared to all of the state's previous efforts.

"I learned from that and other experiences as a governor, that people will respond to whom they pay their tithes and offerings far more then they will of those to whom they pay their taxes," Leavitt said. "That was a very important thing for a public servant to learn. If I wanted to find where the energy was within the community, then I needed to turn to organizations such as churches, who could reach out and touch the hearts of people."

When Leavitt was appointed to his position in the Bush administration, he put that knowledge to work. Leavitt said the president had noticed that there was a natural reluctance for churches to deal with government and for government to deal with churches, even though the two were dealing with the same people and worrying about a lot of the same problems.

It was for that reason that Bush launched what he calls faith-based initiatives.

"It was a direct strike at changing the culture of our government, not to take over religion but to partner with religion in dealing with the citizens that we both serve in unique and different ways," Leavitt said.