Faith-based folly: Americans say 'not so fast'

President Bush's "faith-- based" initiative has provoked concerns and reservations from editorial writers, pundits and prominent leaders from across the religious and political spectrum since its introduction in January. Here are some of the comments:

Negative Response

"The establishment of an office to pump federal money into religious charities has brought a uniform reaction from across the spectrum of churches and civil libertarian organizations, left to right. The only problem for the president's plan is that most of that response has been negative."

- Dan K. Thomasson, former editor of Scripps Howard News Service, in a March 5 column

Creating 'Impotent Gullivers'

"Without careful guarantees that Bush has yet to provide, the potential for problems is great. The move could undercut the 200-year-old separation of church and state that is guaranteed in the Bill of Rights. And it could tie down religious charities like impotent Gullivers in the myriad strings of government red tape."

- USA Today, Jan. 30 editorial

Forced To Pray?

"Last year [Bush administration official Stephen Goldsmith] suggested that a homeless shelter receiving federal funds should not be prevented from asking recipients to pray once a day. He. and others say that this would be acceptable as long as people in need of shelter have other shelters they can turn to that do not have a religious component. That may seem a small step, but it could invite the kind of abuses the First Amendment is meant to prohibit."

- New York Times, Jan. 30 editorial

Safeguards Required

"Of course, taxpayer money should never be used to let a religion convert people or end up boosting a religion. And grants for social work should be given neutrally to both religious and secular groups. Bush needs to convince Americans he can uphold such safeguards. If not, then this noble experiment needs a fresh look."

- Christian Science Monitor, Jan. 29 editorial

Over My Cold Dead Body

"The only way I would take government funding is over my very cold dead body. We simply don't like the government. We don't like their interference and all their nonsense - you can't do this, you can't do that."

- Sister Connie Driscoll, head of a 125-bed shelter for women and children in Chicago, Jan. 28 Pittsburgh Post-- Gazette

Resisting Temptation

"What concerns me is that religious organizations might be tempted, or forced, to dilute their life-transforming message in order to get government subsidies, thus negating the primary reason for their success. They also risk becoming an appendage of the party in power that financially smiles upon them."

- Cal Thomas, nationally syndicated columnist, Jan. 31

Taxpayer Evanglism?

"Do Muslim and Hindu religious organizations here get to give out government money for charitable causes that they choose? I hope not, but then, I hope the Catholics, the Baptists, the Episcopalians and the Methodists don't either, because I don't want to help them enlist converts with my money."

- Andy Rooney, syndicated columnist and "60 Minutes" commentator, Feb. 3

Brushing Aside Separation

"At one point, Dr. [Murray] Friedman and I raised the possibility of faith-- based, government-funded programs doing great damage to the historic separation of church and state. Mr. Bush quickly brushed aside our concerns, stating that he did not see this as any kind of threat to church-state issues .... [I]f the new commitment to 'faith-based initiatives' threatens the wall of separation, then it will be our responsibility as Baptist Christians to speak a prophetic word of protest."

- The Rev. Roger A. Paynter, senior pastor of Austin's First Baptist Church, writing in the Baptist Joint Committee's Jan. 24 Report From The Capital. (Paynter's church hosted Bush's first "faith-based" forum after the election.)

Been There, Done That

" [T]hen, of course, there is one of Bush's faves: Let's use the churches to provide social services. That is not, actually, a totally terrible idea, except that it's unconstitutional and guaranteed to get screwed up in the execution. We've already tried it here in the National Laboratory for Bad Government - aka Texas - and that's what we learned."

- Molly Ivins, a nationally syndicated columnist for the Fort Worth Star-- Telegram, Feb. I

A Threat Of Hostility

"Youth, elders, the homeless, women seeking reproductive counseling and individuals who seek treatment for alcohol or drug abuse all face a very real threat that services will be offered in an unfriendly and hostile setting. For generations, churches, synagogues and other faith institutions have worked wonders for people from all walks of life. But our nation's founders never envisioned that.. government would 'establish' churches or synagogues through funding or through other formal relationships."

- Elizabeth Toledo, executive director of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, Feb. 6

Inviting Sectarian Competition

"The idea of America's religious groups fighting over the limited public money to be made available takes us down the road towards the kind of sectarian competition that has torn so many nations apart, and which our separation of church and state has spared us."