Debates on public policy in the United States are shaped, in part, by moral and religious commitments of individuals and communities. Heclo (2003) writes in Religion Returns to the Public Square, Government policy and religious matters . . . both claim to give authoritative answers to important questions about how people should live. Heclo's words apply especially to the issue of poverty and welfare reform, a matter on which the great religious traditions have played an integral part. Apart from its profound political significance, there is every indication that the welfare reform legislation...