This article in the New York Times ("Bush's Call to Church Groups to Get Untraditional Replies") was reprinted on the front page of the Oregonian this morning. I wonder whether the support for this program is really all that deep or widespread among the country's religious conservatives, or whether it will fade when they see the effects of government support for religions different from their own. The smarter ones worry about the effect that taking government money might have on their own religions. I don't worry as much about these entanglement problems as I did twenty years ago; yes, people do forget why separation of church and state was a good idea, but their distaste for other religions reminds them quickly enough when the separation gets thin. I worry more about people forgetting why it's a good idea for the public as a whole to take responsibility for public problems.
