Keep Church and State Separate
Keep Church and State Separate
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The July 21 editorial on public funding for religious charities and social programs ["Faith-Based Obama"] looked for a "sensible balance" where none can exist. Some things are nonnegotiable.
I am proud to be counted among those the editorial breezily dismissed as "strict separation of church and state types." How could I be otherwise without being disloyal to the Constitution?
Individuals are always free to donate to religious charities, but it is unconscionable to spend public money on the social programs of churches, no matter how worthy the programs or how efficiently they operate. Besides, what looks attractive to the proponents of this cozy relationship may well lose its luster when, say, American Muslim or Wiccan groups demand funding for their charitable causes.
The Founding Fathers' hands-off approach has proved to be profoundly wise -- neither cheerleading nor discouraging but being quietly neutral.
Simple separation of church and state should remain inviolable -- a principle that has defined us as a democratic and pluralistic people, free to worship but never compelled to do so.
MARTIN LAWSON
Arlington
