Use the tax code to spur more private donations to community programs. Initiate pilot projects to test ways church-based programs can expand their involvement in solving social problems with the help of federal funds. Removing bureaucratic barriers makes sense, providing church-state conflict can be avoided. But it may not be easy. For instance, Bush would award grants to faith-based groups to put prison inmates soon to be released on the path to reform.
Nobody can quarrel with that.
But when churches preach reform, they often want to remake the whole person - body, mind and spirit . Sessions with inmates could feature liberal references to the soul, to God, to the Bible, to salvation and to other elements of a religion. Such sessions may indeed suit a prison setting. Appeared in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel on Feb. 1, 2001. All rights reserved.