How separate must church and state be?

A taxpayer-funded program should not be permitted to hire and fire on the basis of what people believe about God or how they choose to run their private lives.

The Bush faith-based initiative allows religiously affiliated social services to engage in this kind of job bias, and it's just plain wrong. Polls repeatedly show that the vast majority of Americans oppose such discrimination in public programs.

The Bush administration has also failed to monitor faith-based grants to ensure that religious groups don't proselytize with public funds. People should be able to get the help they need from their government without being pressured to pray or take part in someone else's religious ritual.

It's time for religious organizations to be subjected to the same rules as any other business - that's what they are. If waitresses are taxed on tips, churches should be taxed on the money put into their offering plates. Churches offer a service just like lawyers. They advise their clients and receive renumeration in return. They should be no more exempt from property taxes than a lawyer's office should be.