Religious aid inappropriate

President George W. Bush has only been in office for two weeks and already has created a stir. His latest plan, a faith-based initiative that would support many religious philanthropy groups, has turned Democratic and Republican heads. \nDistributing federal funds to religious groups is inappropriate and begins to blur the lines separating church and state.\nThe plan would allow groups to compete for a share of the social services funding the government distributes. Those religious organizations that provide social services for their members and community could get funds.\nThis is not the first time a plan like this has come to the floor. In 1996, Congress passed the Charitable Choice plan, which enables private, religious and charitable organizations to compete on an equal footing for federal funding to provide services, and it protects their religious character if they choose to accept federal funds. Bush said that this program is too limited and that he hopes to open the program up so it is easier for groups to obtain funding.\nReligious and private philanthropy groups are generally effective in helping to relieve the pressure of some of America's major social and economic problems. The government cannot be the solution to every problem, and if these groups are filling in, we should support them.\nBut we should support them as private citizens, not through our government. If Bush wants to give tax credits to those private citizens who can choose which organization to contribute to, more power to him. But government cannot have the power to decide which religious groups are deserving of aid. \nGovernment cannot fund groups that discriminate in their hiring practices, or attempt to spread the ideas of their religion through their charity work. Most importantly, government should not have the power to arbitrarily decide which religion-specific groups receive the most taxpayer-funded help from a religiously diverse population.\nWhen our ancestors came to the United States, they were escaping religious persecution. When our founders established the Constitution, they put a clause in this important document to prevent government from mixing with any one religion. The First Amendment tells us that "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof." This program, combined with Bush's desire to establish a National Day of Prayer, is smudging the well-drawn line between the separation of church and state.\nAlthough Bush said this program will not establish any national religion, it will be interesting to see the denomination of most of the groups who receive aid from this program during the next few years.